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tachyhippodamia; 


OR, 


THE  NEW  SECRET  OF 


TAMING    HORSES. 


GIVING    FULL     DIRECTIONS 


KOW  TO    BREAK   AND   RIDE  COLTS;    TO  TAME  THE  MOST  VICIOUS  HORSES  AND 
GENTLE  THEM  TO  ALL  KINDS  OF  VEHICLES  OR  WORK  ;    TO  BREAK  "EIIEM 
OF  KICKING  OR  ANY  OTHER  BAD  TRICKS;    TO  TEACH  THEM  ANY  ' 

KINDS  OF  TRICKS   OB  ACTIONS;    ETC.,  ETC. 

WITH  NDMEROnS  VALUABLE   RECEIPTS   FOR  DISEASES  OF  HORSES,  MULES,  C0W8» 

Ere. ;    HOW  TO  fatten  horses,  cows,   etc,  how  to  teach  TURKEYS 

AND  ANIMALS  TO  DANCE,  HOW  TO  TAME  DEER,  ETC.,  ETC. 


WILLIS    J.     POWELL. 

TO  WHICH  IS  ADDED 

THE  BREAKING,   TRAINING,   AND   TAMING  HORSES. 

BY   J.     S.    RAREY, 


[tt^  Wumerous  Illustrattons. 


PHILADELPHIA 
W.      R.      CHARTER 

611  &  613  SANSOM  ST. 
1872. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1872,  by 

W.    R.    CHARTER, 
iu  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


TO  THE  READER. 


Gentle  Reader  :  The  work  you  are  going  to 
peruse  is  not  a  voluminous  one,  neither  did  I  take 
any  pains  whatever  as  to  the  elegance  of  the  style. 
I  wrote  to  make  myself  understood  by  the  un- 
learned as  well  as  the  learned.  The  price  of  the 
work  may  seem  high,  on  account  of  the  small  num- 
ber of  pages  it  contains :  but  it  must  be  recollected 
that  it  encloses  the  revelation  of  a  secret  that  has 
filled  thousands  of  the  wise  and  unwise  with  aston- 
ishment. I  have  received,  as  a  gratification,  more 
than  two  thousand  dollars,  from  several  Mexican 
gentleman,  for  breaking  a  single  horse,  in  this 
manner,  in  their  presence.  I  shall  always  feel 
grateful  for  the  kind  and  generous  reception  I 
every  where  met  with,  when  travelling  through 
their  country.  From  Louisiana  to  Mexico — from 
the  Califoruias  to  Guatemala — and  all  over  the 


IV  PREFACE. 

Mexican  states,  when  I  have  been  travelling,  I 
never  asked  for  lodging  without  its  being  imme- 
diately granted — I  never  asked  for  a  meal  of  vict- 
uals and  was  refused  :  the  proprietor  of  a  private 
house  would  feel  himself  injured,  if  you  should 
offer  him  money  for  receiving  you.  You  may  ex- 
cept from  this  rule  some  poor  Indian,  who  some- 
times will  admit  of  your  offer,  when  you  insist  on 
his  receiving  some  trifle ;  but  a  wealthy  farmer, 
or  one  a  little  at  his  ease,  would  spurn  the  idea  of 
selling  his  hospitality.  I  speak  of  none  of  their 
qualities  but  that  of  hospitality,  which  by  the  by, 
is  a  great  one,  and  very  much  recommended  by 
St.  Paul.  It  is  true,  I  lost  nearly  twenty  thou- 
sand dollars,  which  were  deposited  in  a  store,  by 
a  revolution :  but,  in  what  country  is  a  man's 
property  safe  in  revolutionary  times  ? 

Several  Mexican  gentleman  solicited  me  to 
publish  this  secret  in  their  country,  but  I  con- 
stantly refused  to  do  it;  for  I  always  intended 
doing  it  in  my  own  native  country — not  doubting 
but  that  I  should  meet  with  encouragement  from 
my  own  countrymen.  I  was  always  jealous  of 
having  the  honor  of  being  the  first  that  ever  made 
it  known  to  the  world.  It  is  probable  that  the 
famous  Irish  "whisperer,"  Sullivan,  who  died  in 
1810,  possessed  the  same  secret,  or  some  other  very 
much  like  it,  as  it  appears  from  the  astonishing 


PREFACF.  V 

things  related  of  him,  concerning  what  he  did 
upon  horses.  The  reader  will,  however,  observe, 
that  Sullivan  lived  in  a  country  where  horses 
were  raised  as  they  are  in  England  and  in  the 
1^  orthern  states  :  that  is,  among  men  and  familiar 
to  man.  But  the  horses  which  I  have  generally 
had  to  deal  with,  (though  I  have  had  every  kind,) 
had  been  running  wild,  in  the  plains  and  woods, 
for  four,  five,  six  and  even  ten  years,  and  Avhich, 
during  that  time,  had  never  had  a  rope  on  them. 
And  besides,  the  horses  of  New  Spain  have  always 
been  noted  for  being  remarkably  fiery  and  unman- 
ageable. I  have  gentled  a  horse  in  Texas,  which, 
before  that  day  had,  in  all  probability,  never  seen 
a  man — a  stud  of  eight  or  nine  years  of  age,  as 
wild  as  a  deer  when  taken  an  hour  before.  I  be- 
gan the  operation,  and  ip  one  hour  made  him  fol- 
low me  without  pulling  him  by  the  halter,  and 
little  boys  got  upon  him  bare-backed,  and  saddled 
and  rode  him  about :  in  a  word,  he  was  a  gentle 
horse.  Those  horses  are  called  in  Spanish  Meste- 
nos,  (pronounced  Mestaneyos  and  not  Mustangs.) 
What  makes  me  think  that  Sullivan,  as  well  as 
he  that  did  the  same  in  England  a  hundred  years 
ago,  made  use  of  the  same  means  as  I  do,  is,  that 
when  I  was  now  and  then  breaking  a  horse, 
(which  generally  took  me  three  or  four  hours,  al- 
though, as  I  said  above,  I  have  done  it  even  in 


VI  PEEFACE. 

half  an  hour,  though  rarely,)  and  afterwards  went 
into  a  town,  the  people  flocked  about  to  see  me, 
saying  to  their  friends,  "This  is  the  man  that 
breaks  a  horse  in  half  an  hour."  Now  the  same 
has  been  published  of  Sullivan:  most  probably 
they  mentioned  the  shortest  space  of  time  he  had 
done  it  in,  for  it  is  likewise  said  of  him,  that  some- 
times he  shut  himself  up  with  the  horse  all  night. 

Sometimes  I  have  met  with  an  extremely  wild 
horse,  which  seemed  to  be  gentled,  as  by  enchant- 
ment, in  a  few  minutes.  I  have  gentled  one  of 
this  description  in  ten  minutes,  so  as  to  lead  him, 
make  him  follow  me  everywhere  I  pleased,  and 
ride  him  with  as  great  safety  as  if  he  had  been 
gentled  twenty  years  before.  But  this  is  not  a 
general  rule. 

The  reader  is  here  presented,  in  the  explanation 
of  this  secret,  with  a  specimen  of  the  wonderful 
powers  of  the  tact  upon  animals,  and  at  the  same 
time,  with  a  moral  lesson  of  patience  and  gentle- 
ness— virtues  as  necessary  to  get  along  through 
life  among  men,  as  they  are  when  used  in  taming 
horses ;  and  the  exception  to  the  general  rule — I 
mean  those  that  are  to  be  treated  with  rigor — is 
not,  perhaps,  less  rare.  I  am  fully  persuaded,  that 
almost  every  class  of  people  will  reap  some  benefit 
or  pleasure  from  the  perusal  of  these  pages.  The. 
naturalist  sees  in  it  a  lesson  of  Nature  itself.     The 


PREFACE  Vll 

moralist  admires  in  it  the  display  of  gentleness, 
patience  and  j)erseverance  ;  and  every  man  "who 
rides  a  horse  may  some  day  or  other  find  some 
advantage  in  consulting  it. 

I  have  endeavored  to  render  this  little  work  as 
useful  as  possible,  on  three  accounts.  Firstly,  on 
account  of  the  profits  arising  from  the  sale  of  a 
useful  work  ;  secondly,  for  the  credit  one  gets  as 
the  author  of  something  good ;  and  lastly,  on  ac- 
count of  the  satisfaction  every  generous  mind  must 
feel  in  becoming  useful  to  his  fellow  creatures.  I 
have  been  most  generously  encouraged  by  the  in- 
habitants of  Attakapas,  where  I  had  resided  so 
many  years.  As  soon  as  I  began  my  subscription 
they  almost  universally  became  subscribers.  In 
the  town  of  St  Martinsville,  only  three  or  four  in- 
dividuals refused  to  subscribe.  In  Opelousas  I 
met  with  a  kind  reception  from  most  of  the  people 
to  whom  I  presented  the  list  for  subscription.  At 
Fausse  River,  Pointe  Coupe,  Plaquemine,  and 
down  to  New  Orleans,  they  almost  universally  sub- 
scribed. I  shall  always  feel  grateful  for  their 
kind  reception.  Encouragement  is  the  deepest 
and  dearest  debt  that  a  writer  can  incur. 

I  never  declared  myself  to  be  the  discoverer  of 
this  secret  till  the  year  1824,  when  I  arrived  in 
the  Mexican  states.      I  had  my  reasons  for  so  do- 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

ing.  Never  did  a  people  express  more  surprise 
and  astonishment  at  any  extraordinary  event, 
than  the  Mexicans  did  at  my  first  performance  on 
my  arrival  among  them  ;  and  more  especially  on 
account  of  my  being  a  foreigner  ;  for  it  is  well 
known  that  the  Mexicans,  rich  and  poor,  high  and 
low,  pride  themselves  upon  being  the  best  horse- 
men in  the  world.  And  I  think  there  is  no  for- 
eigner that  ever  travelled  among  them,  and  ob- 
served them  as  I  have,  but  will  readily  agree  in 
ranking  them  among  the  first  as  to  agility,  skill 
and  elegance,  when  mounted  upon  their  beautiful 
Andalusian  steeds.  If  the  Mexican  ladies  are 
admired  by  all  foreigners  for  their  natural,  easy, 
unaflTected,  genteel  carriage — surpassing,  if  possi- 
ble, in  that  respect,  the  elegant  Louisiana  ladies 
— so  does  the  Mexican,  when  mounted  on  a  fine 
Xaral  steed,  equal,  if  not  surpass,  any  other  rider 
in  the  world.  For  this  very  reason,  I  was  every 
where  received  with  the  greatest  cordiality  and 
applause,  for  no  people  knew  how  to  appreciate 
better  than  they  a  discovery  of  so  surprising  a 
nature. 

I  wish  the  reader  to  observe,  that  in  explaining 
the  operation  of  the  secret  of  gentling  a  horse,  I 
have  always  supposed  the  horse  to  be  one  that  re- 
quired the  whole  secret,  in   order  to  be  gentled, 


PREFACE.  ix 

though  a  man  meets  with  many  that  do  not  require 
one-third  of  what  I  there  lay  down  :  but  it  is  bet- 
ter to  do  too  much  than  too  little  in  this  case,  so  I 
shall  say  no  more  about  it   here.      Vale,  ya  es 

TARDE,  BUENAS  NOCHES  TENGA  USTED  SENOR 
CABALLERO. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


CONTENTS. 


i*i  ♦  -^ 


The  Prologue,  in  which  I  mention  the 
time  I  discovered  this  secret,  and  what 
gave  rise  to  the  desire  I  had  of  making 
such  a  discovery,  and  why  I  did  not  wish 
people  to  know  that  I  had  made  it,  as  well 
as  my  reasons  for  making  use  of  smells, 
&c.,  &c.  17 

Poinsett's  Certificate — he  then  was  Minister 
Plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  of 
America  to  Mexico.  26 

General  Guerreros'  Letter  of  Recommen- 
dation. 26 

The  Marquis  de  Rayas'  Certificate.  27 

Observation  upon  Horses  in  general,  and 
w^hat  led  me  to  the  discovery  of  breaking 
them  in  a  few  hours.  31 

The  Secret.  Tn  the  explanation  of  the  Se- 
cret is  related  the  astonishing  effect  it  had 
upon  a  Avild  boar,  which  I  tamed  in  a  few 
hours,  in  the  state  of  Neuvo  Leon.  35 


Xll  ,  CONTENTS. 

How  to  deal  with  Refractory  Horses,  which 
have  been  gentled  for  a  long  time  in  the 
common  way. 


61 


How  to  deal  with  a  skittish  Horse.  63 

How  to  deal  with  a  Horse  that  will  not  suffer 
one  to  touch  or  handle  his  ears.  64 

An  example  of  a  vicious  Horse,  which  would 
not  sutler  himself  to  be  bridled  by  any  one, 
and  ^vhich  I  cured  of  that  vice  in  a  few 
hours.  65 

How  to  manage  a  kicking  horse,  so  as  to 
cure  him  of  that  vice  in  a  very  short  time.      67 

How  to  manage  a  Horse  that  kicks  up,  so  as 
to  break  him  of  that  vicious  habit.  68 

How  to  manage  a  kicking  horse,  so  as  to  be 
able  to  handle  his  feet  with  facility.  69 

To  teach  a  horse,  so  that  he  will  not  let  a  per- 
son, dressed  in  a  certain  manner,come  nigh 
him  70 

To  teach  your  horse,  so  that  he  will  not  let 
no  one  but  yourself  come  near  him.  72 

How  to  prevent  a  Horse  from  pulling  upon 
his  bridle  reins,  in  order  to  break  them.  73 

The  Mexican  Mode  of  Preventing  a  horse 
from  breaking  his  bridle.  74 


CONTENTS.  Xm 

How  to  manage  a  Horse  that  gets  the  studs, 
or  that  stops  and  will  not  advance  a  step, 
when  you  put  him  to  the  plough  or  cart, 
&c.  /  74 

How  to  teach  a  Horse  to  lie  down  at  the 
word  of  command.  75 

To  teach  a  horse  to  count  any  number.  77 

Easy  Method  of  Fattening  a  Horse  in  a  short 
time  77 

A  remedy  for  a  horse  that  will  not  fatten 
though  well  fed.  79 

To  Prevent  a  Horse's  back  from  getting  sore 
even  on  a  long  journey.  80 

How  to  treat  a  horse  that  gets  foundered  upon 
the  road,  when  on  a  journey.  81 

How  to  treat  a  horse  upon  a  journey.  82 

A  Horse  that  it  apt  to  Stumble  through  care- 
lessness, and  not  on  account  of  the  Bad 
Construction  of  his  Shoulders.  83 

How  to  break  a  Mule  by  the  secret,  and  the 
difference  there  is  to  be  observed  between 
a  horse  and  a  mule.  84 

How  Thales  corrected  a  Mule  from  the  vi- 
cious habit  of  lying  down  with  its  load  of 
salt,  every  time  it  crossed  a  certain  river.        86 

How  to  make  a  dull  horse  appear  mettlesome 
and  full  of  fire  for  a  short  time.  88 

2 


XIV.  CONTENTS. 

That  part,  or  those  parts  of  the  Mexican 
states,  in  which  the  best  race  of  horses  are 
to  be  found.  89 

Caution  to  be  observed  in  cutting  or  paring 
the  hoofs  of  horses.  92 

Caution  to  those  who  raise  horses  and  mules.     93 

How  to  accustom  a  horse  to  stay  in  a  place 
that  was  raised  in  another.  93 

To  make  a  gentle  horse,  not  used  to  a  car- 
riage go  in  it,  94 

A  horse  that  stops,  and  refuses  to  go  when  in 
a  carriage.  96 

A  mode  of  breaking  wild  horses  very  differ- 
ent from  that  discovered  by  me.  97 

Another  way  of  breaking  them,  by  stopping 
up  their  ears.  98 

Advice  to  farmers,  concerning  the  gentling 
of  young  cows.  98 

The  astonishing  manner  in  w^hich  I  tamed  a 
wild  deer,  which  was  roped  by  a  Guastecan 
as  it  came  out  of  the  woods.  99 

A  remedy  for  an  Ox  that  lies  down,  and  won't 
get  up.  102 

A  curious  method  of  teaching  Turkies  to 
dance  at  the  sound  of  a  triangle,  or  any 
other  musical  instrument.  103 


f                                       CONTENTS.  XV 

A  remedy  for  the  gripes  or  colic  in  horses.  1 06 

Oi-^  the  Botts.  107 

Of  the  Blind  staggers.        *  107 

Rarey's   Method. — The  three  fundamental 

principles  of  Rarey's  Theory.  109 

How  to  succeed  in  getting  the  Colt  from  pas- 
ture. 114 

How  to  stable  a  Colt  without  trouble.  115 

Time  to  reflect.  117 

The  kind  of  halter.  117 

Remarks  on  the  horse.  118 

Experiment  with  the  robe.  119 

Suggestions  on  the  habit  of  smelling.  121 

PREyAiLiNG  opinion  of  horsemen.  122 

Remarks  on  Powel's  treatment.  124 

How  to  govern  horses  of  any  kind.  124 

How  to  proceed  if  your  horse  be  of  a  stubborn 

disposition  128 

How  to  halter  and  lead  a  colt.  130 

How  to  lead  a  colt  by  the  side  of  a  broken 

horse.  133 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

How  to  lead  a  colt  into  the  stable,  and  hitch 

him,  without  having  him  pull  on  the  halter.  135 

The  kind  of  bit,  and  how  to  accustom   the 

horse  to  it.  137 

How  to  saddle  a  colt.  138 

How  to  mount  the  colt.  140 

How  to  ride  the  colt.  143 

The  proper  way  to  bit  a  colt.  145 

How  to  drive  a  horse  that  is  very  wild  and 

has  any  vicious  habits.  146 

On  Balking.  150 

To  Break  a  horse  to  Harness.  156 

How  to  Hitch  a  horse  in  a  Sulky.  156 

How  to  make  a  horse  lie  down.  158 

How  to  make  a  horse  follow  you.  159 

How  to  make  a  horse  stand  without  holding.  161 


TACHYHIPPODAMIA. 


In  the  year  1811,  whilst  residing  in  Georgia,  I 
read  an  account  of  a  man  who  lived  more  than  a 
hundred  years  ago,  who  would  take  any  wild  horse, 
and  shut  himself  up  with  him  in  a  small  yard  or 
stable,  and  at  the  end  of  a  few  hours,  come  out 
with  the  horse  perfectly  gentle.  Nothing  was  ever 
known  about  the  means  he  employed  in  gentling 
him,  for  he  died  without  ever  communicating  his 
secret  to  any  one.  I  always  possessed  a  great 
share  of  curiosity :  therefore,  as  well  to  gratify  it 
as  to  become  useful  to  myself  and  others,  I  made 
a  great  many  experiments  upon  young  horses,  but 
without  success.  I  ran  great  risks  in  these  experi- 
ments, but  the  danger,  far  from  discouraging  me, 
animated  me  the  more  to  make  new  trials.     At 

the  end  of  the  year  1811,  I  came  to  Louisiana, 
2* 


18  TAMING  HOKSES. 

where  there  were  many  wild  horses.  I  renewed 
my  experiments.  After  having  met  with  many 
difficulties,  I  discovered  a  secret  in  1814,  on  my 
plantation  in  the  Attakapas,  by  which  I  broke  a 
horse  in  three  hours.  The  horse  always  remained 
gentle.  By  the  same  method,  I  broke  another; 
but  two  days  after,  I  found  him  almost  as  wild  as 
ever.  This  perplexed  me  very  much — why  one 
horse  should  remain  gentle  and  the  other  not.  I 
broke  two  more,  and  undertook  a  fifth,  which  I 
abandoned  after  several  trials.  This  took  place  be- 
tween seven  and  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning.  I 
then  thought  the  application  of  the  secret  ought  to 
be  varied.  Accordingly,  after  having  adopted  and 
rejected  a  great  many  ways  of  applying  it,  I  fell  upon 
one  which  proved  to  be  the  best.  At  eleven  o'clock, 
I  went  in  again  to  the  horse ;  but  when  he  saw  me, 
he  reared  and  pitched  and  kicked  in  a  most  terrific 
manner.  I  stopped,  notwithstanding,  stood  still  a 
few  minutes,  and  then  began  the  operation,  and 
saw,  with  pleasure,  that  at  half  past  four  he  was 
perfectly  gentle,  and  always  remained  so;  for  I 
had  already  discovered  this  last  most  important 
part  of  the  secret — of  having  them  always  remain 
gentle — and  I  never  have  revealed  it  to  any  living 
person. 

To  give  an  idea  of  this  mode  of  gentling  horses, 
I  will  relate  a  few  circumstances  of  the  last  men- 


TAMING  HORSES.  19 

tioned  horse.     He  was  going  on  eight  years  old, 
had  always  run  in  the  prairie  since  he  had  been 
branded,  was  a  stud  of  a  most  fiery,  ferocious  dis- 
position, and  had  never  been  roped  from  the  time 
he  had  been  branded.     To  get  him  into  the  yard 
where  I  gentled  him,  we  were  obliged  to  tie  his  legs 
and  drag  him  in,  and  no  one  durst  go  into  the  yard 
where  he  was  let  loose.     He  ran  at  any  one,  when 
confined  in  the  yard,  with  as  much  fury  as  a  lion 
or  tiger  would  have  done,  and  he  used  his  teeth 
and  fore  feet  with  as  much  dexterity  as  if  he  had 
been  trained  up  to  it  from  a  colt.     After  I  led  him 
out,  I  let  the  saddle  fall  over  his  heels,  girted  him 
tight  and  cruppered  him.     Several  boys  got  upon 
him,  rode  him  about  the  yard,  tied  a  dry  ox-hide 
to  his  tail,  and  rode  him  out  in  this  manner  into 
the  prairie,  without  his  showing  the  least  sign  of 
fear,  eithej'  at  the  rattling  of  the  hide,  or  at  any 
other  object  he  met  with  in  the  prairie.     The  next 
day,  they  rode  him  to  the  town,  in  the  midst  of  a 
great  concourse  of  people;  for  it  was  a  holiday. 
He  passed  among  them  with  as  little  fear  as  if  he 
had  been  raised  in  the  town.     "When  he  came  home, 
he  followed  any  one  without  pulling  him  by  the 
halter.     He  let  any  one  handle  his  feet,  and  take 
them  up  with  as  much  ease  as  they  could  those  of 
any  plough  horse.     I  declare  that,  in  thus  gentling 
this  animal,  I  made  use  of  no  intoxicating  bever- 


20  TAMING  HORSES. 

age,  or  smell,  or  any  other  means  whatever,  that 
might  tend  to  stupify  him,  or  diminish  his  natural 
vigor  or  spiritedness  in  the  least ;  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, horses  thus  gentled  are  fit  foi:  immediate  use, 
with  all  their  vigor,  as  they  do  not  become  poor 
and  broken  down  by  length  of  time  and  bad  usage, 
as  it  hap23ens  with  spirited  horses  gentled  in  the 
commo|j  way,  with  much  cost  and  danger.  This 
is  not  the  only  advantage  of  the  secret.  It  enables 
the  most  timid  man  to  break  a  horse,  without  dan- 
ger or  fear;  for  it  consists  in  gentling  him  com- 
pletely, before  you  attempt  to  get  on  him. 

I  have  broken  an  immense  number  of  wild 
horses,  in  the  Mexican  provinces,  of  the  most  fiery 
and  spirited  dispositions;  and  have  certificates 
from  the  President,  Vice-President,  and  many  of 
the  most  respectable  citizens  of  that  Republic,  who 
have  been  eye-witnesses  to  this  performance.  In 
the  City  of  Mexico,  General  Maison,  Captain 
Hotchkiss  and  others,  strangers,  then  in  Mexico, 
have  seen  me  perform. 

This  secret,  though  simple,  requires  a  clear  ex- 
planation, and  how  to  be  applied  according  to 
the  three  different  kinds  of  horses:  for,  though  a 
man  should  discover  enough  of  the  secret  to  break 
some  of  the  common  horses  of  this  country,  he  still 
would  meet  with  many,  even  here,  that  he  could 
not  break,  and  would  completely  fail  among  the 


TAMING  HORSES.  21 

high  blooded  Spanish  studs.  But,  by  perfectly- 
knowing  the  secret,  he  will  find  them  even  easier 
to  be  gentled  than  almost  any  others. 

There  are  three  kinds  of  wild  horses.  The  first 
of  these  appeal*  to  fear  nothing,  and  when  confined 
will  run  at  a  man  with  incredible  fierceness.  The 
second  appear  only  to  fear  man.  The  third  class 
appear  to  be  afraid  of  every  thing  they  meet  with, 
when  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  horses.  Many 
of  the  Spanish  horses  belong  to  the  first  class,  and 
frequently  suffer  themselves  to  be  killed  before 
they  can  be  broken  in  the  common  way,  and  yet 
they  are  easily  gentled  by  my  secret.  Now,  it  is 
positively  necessary  to  vary  the  application  of  the 
secret  according  to  the  disposition  of  the  horse  to 
be  gentled ;  all  of  which  will  be  clearly  and  ex- 
tensively explained  in  the  publication  of  this  work. 
The  work  will,  besides,  contain  some  few  observa- 
tions upon  horses  in  general,  and  in  what  part  of 
the  Mexican  provinces  the  best  race  of  horses  is  to 
be  found,  &c.,  and  an  easy  manner  of  fattening  a 
horse  in  a  short  time.  Likewise,  the  Mexican  mode 
of  preventing  horses  from  breaking  their  bridles — 
and  how  to  prevent  a  horse's  back  from  getting  sore 
even  on  long  journeys:  all  of  which  I  have  proved 
by  experience.  How  to  teach  a  horse,  so  that  in  a 
few  days  he  will  not  suffer  a  jDerson  dressed  in  a 
certain  manner  to  ride  him  or  come  near  him.     To 


22  TAMING   HORSES. 

teach  one,  so  that  in  a  few  days  he  will  suffer  no 
one  to  ride  him  but  his  master. 

At  the  time  I  discovered  this  secret,  I  was  teach- 
ing, (and  had  been  for  some  time,)  the  public 
school  or  college  of  Attakapas  on  my  plantation, 
close  to  the  town,  and  in  my  own  buildings ;  for 
the  edifice  designed  for  that  purpose  had  been 
burnt  down  some  time  before.  I  received,  besides 
what  each  student  paid  me  for  board  and  tuition  a 
compensation  for  the  use  of  my  buildings,  as  well 
as  the  annual  pension  from  the  government  of  the 
state  of  Louisiana ;  and  as  I  taught  the  Latin  and 
Greek  languages,  as  well  as  the  French,  English 
and  Spanish,  I  had  a  great  number  of  students, 
from  different  parts  of  the  state,  and  from  other 
states,  which  rendered  my  business  pretty  lucrative. 
This  was  one  reason  why  I  did  not  turn  my  atten- 
tion at  that  time  to  the  gain  I  might  expect  to  reap 
from  this  discovery. 

In  1815,  I  met  with  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Thomas  Drinnen,  who  appeared  to  me  rather  ec- 
centric in  some  respects,  but  an  active,  intelligent 
man,  and  very  fond  of  horses.  I  told  him  I  had 
discovered  a  secret  to  break  them  in  a  few  hours. 
He  wanted  me  to  reveal  it  to  him.  I  told  him  I 
would  let  him  know  enough  of  it  to  astonish  the 
public,  if  he  would  go  to  Attakapas  with  me;  for 
it  was  in  the  time  of  vacation,  and  I  was  on  the 


TAIiHNG  HORSES.  23 

Mississippi,  on  my  way  home.  He  said  he  could 
;  not,  but  would  come  there  some  time  afterwards, 
if  I  would  give  him  some  of  the  ingredients  to 
j  make  trials  with  where  he  w^as  then  going.  I  ac- 
cordingly supplied  him  with  certain  materials,  (the 
better  to  disguise  the  real  secret,)  one  of  which 
was  that  callous  substance  growing  upon  a  horse's 
fore  legs,  called  the  spur ;  likewise,  the  sweat  taken 
from  under  a  man's  arm  was  to  be  used ;  the  sweat 
of  a  horse,  mare's  milk,  &c.  Said  Drennen  really 
believed  that  these  materials  were  efficacious  in 
gentling  a  horse.  I  now  declare  to  the  world,  that 
I  had  heard  of  some  of  them,  and  made  use  of  the 
others  in  my  experiments,  but  found  them  without 
the  least  effect. 

In  1819,  Drinnen  came  to  Attakapas.  I  never 
had  mentioned  to  any  one  that  I  knew  such  a  secret. 
On  the  contrary,  I  came  into  Mr.  Grigg's  inn,  then 
and  still  existing  at  St.  Martinsville,  distant  from 
my  (then)  plantation  a  half  a  mile,  pretending  to 
be  astonished  at  what  Drinnen  was  relating  con- 
cerning horses,  and  at  the  same  time  incredulous, 
offering  him  a  gratification  of  one  hundred  dollars, 
to  see  him  break  one  of  the  wild  hoises  of  this 
country  in  so  short  a  time.  Mr.  Gabriel  Fuselier 
told  him  that  he  would  do  the  same,  if  he  should 
succeed  in  his  essay  upon  any  one  of  the  wild  horses 
upon  his  plantation,  which  was  about  two  miles 


24  TAMING   HOESES. 

from  the  town.  He  accepted  the  offer,  and  the 
following  day  was  decided  upon  for  the  trial ;  at 
which  time  he  performed,  and  to  the  satisfaction 
of  every  one.  But  I  had  given  him  no  further  in- 
sight into  the  secret  than  this  first  part  of  it,  more 
to  see  what  impression  it  would  have  upon  the 
public,  than  for  any  thing  else,  as  my  employment 
and  standing  in  society  were  such  that  I  did  not 
like  to  appear  before  such  a  multitude  of  my  ac- 
quaintances as  a  horse-breaker.  This  was,  how- 
ever, a  foolish  prejudice;  for  Fulton  by  the  dis- 
covery of  the  means  of  making  a  boat  advance 
with  more  velocity  by  the  application  of  steam 
power,  was  not,  on  that  account,  looked  upon  as  a 
common  boatman. 

After  these  experiments  of  Drinnen,  to  whom  I 
had  communicated  so  small  a  part  of  the  secret,  I 
was  fully  convinced  that  a  large  fortune  might  be 
made  in  almost  any  country  with  the  secret,  such 
as  I  knew  it ;  and,  as  I  understood  the  Spanish  lan- 
guage, I  agreed  with  Drinnen  to  go  first  to  Ha- 
vana and  then  to  New  Spain,  and  take  him  with 
me.  Accordingly,  I  sent  him  to  New  Orleans,  to 
fit  out  a  small  schooner  we  had  bought  in  New- 
town. But  he  took  the  fever  and  died,  and  I  con- 
tinued my  occupations  with  success  for  several 
years,  till  I  had  accumulated  a  handsome  property. 
Shortly  after,  I  became  security  for  several  persons. 


TAMING   HORSES.  25 

three  of  whom  left  me  to  pay  for  them:  at  the 
the  same  time,  I  had  been  robbed  of  six  thousand 
three  hundred  dollars  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans, 
and  had  lost  one  thousand  nine  hundred  dollars 
upon  the  steam-boat  Teche.  As  property  had 
fallen  to  almost  nothing,  I  sacrificed  every  thing, 
to  pay  other  people's  debts,  and  in  1824  went  by 
land  through  Texas  to  Tamaulipas,  where  I  re- 
ceived a  splendid  gratification  from  the  governor 
of  the  state,  Don  Bernardo,  Gutierrez  de  Lara, 
Don  Felipe  de  la  Garza,  general  of  division,  and 
from  several  other  gentlemen  Avho  were  present  at 
a  performance  which  took  place  in  the  town  and 
sea-port  of  Soto  la  ^Marina.  From  thence  I  went 
to  Mexico  with  my  family,  where  I  performed  be- 
fore the  President,  Vice  President,  the  Marquis  of 
Vivanco,  Count  de  Regla  Y  Jala,  General  Guer- 
rero, and  several  of  the  first  characters  of  Mexico, 
in  1825,  in  the  month  of  July.  Our  Envoy,  Mr. 
Joel  R.  Poinsett,  whom  I  had  the  honor  of  knowing 
personally  at  that  time,  can  bear  witness  of  the 
veracity  of  the  signatures  of  the  above-named  gen- 
tlemen, as  well  as  of  their  standing,  all  of  whom 
gave  me  certificates  which  I  have  now  in  my  pos- 
session, and  some  of  which  I  shall  publish  in  this 
work. 

Here  must  be  inserted  the  following  extracts, 
the  originals  of  which  I  have  in  my  possession :  as 
3 


26  TAMING   HORSES. 

a  confirmation  of  which  I  will  first  put  down  Mr. 

Poinsett's : 

Legation  of  the  United  States  of  America,  ] 
Mexico y  No<Tje?nber  15///,  1835.        j 

The  undersigned,  Envoy  Extraordinary  and 
Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  of 
America  in  Mexico,  hereby  certifies:  that  every 
faith  and  credit  are  to  be  placed  in  the  documents 
and  certificates  which  have  been  given  in  this  coun- 
try to  Willis  J.  Powell,  while  a  resident  in  these 
countries.  They  are  signed  by  gentlemen  of  the 
highest  respectability;  and  there  is  no  reason  to 
doubt  that  he  possesses,  in  an  uncommon  degree, 
the  art  of  taming,  in  an  incredible  short  time,  the 
wildest  and  most  unruly  horses. 

J.  R.  Poinsett. 

[A  true  Copy.] 

[translation.] 


Captain  General" s  Office  of  the  South,  \ 
Mexico,  July  27th,  1825.         j 

Don  Vincente  Guerrero  to  all  Gentlemen  Gover- 
nors, Military  Commanders,  Civil  Authorities, 
and  Inhabitants  in  general  of  the  United  Mexi- 
can States — Greeting : 

Gentlemen  :  The  astonishing  faculty  of  Willis 
J.  Powell,  in  taming  wild  horses  in  a  few  hours, 
was  recommended  to  me  by  persons  of  the  highest 
respectability,  and  in  whom  I  place  entire  confi- 


TAMING   HORSES.  27 

dence.  They  have  written  to  me  in  his  favor,  that 
I  might  facilitate  him  to  perform  in  this  city.  He 
has  verified  the  same  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of 
all  the  beholders ;  and  having  resolved  to  continue 
his  operations  in  other  parts  of  the  Federation, 
where  he  is  now  about  to  go,  I  recommend  him, 
gentlemen,  to  your  favor  and  protection,  not  doubt- 
ing in  the  least  but  that  you  will  be  highly  grati- 
fied with  the  acquaintance  of  a  gentleman  who  has 
made  a  discovery  of  so  much  utility,  and  which, 
gentlemen,  you  will  know  how  to  appreciate,  as 
persons  who  desire  to  encourage  all  useful  improve- 
ments, or  any  thing  that  may  tend  to  enlighten 
your  fellow  citizens:  assuring  you  that  I  shall  be 
very  thankful  for  whatever  kindness  or  favor  you 
shall  have  dispensed  to  this  citizen.  It  is  what  I 
expect  from  your  natural  goodness.  God  preserve 
your  lives  many  years,  &c.,  &c. 

ViNCENTE  Guerrero. 


Certificate  of  the  Marquis  of  the  Mine  of  Rayas,  in  the 
State  of  Guanajuato^  in  the  Capital  City  of  the  same 


name. 


[translated    from    the    SPANISH.] 


Citizen  Willis  J.  Powell,  a  naturalist,  and  native 
of  New  York,  of  whose  astonishing  dexterity  in 


28  TAMING  HOESES. 

gentling  "wild  liorses  in  a  few  hours,  I  had  already 
been  informed,  (from  several  respectable  gentlemen, 
who  had  been  eye-witnesses  to  the  same  in  the  city 
of  Mexico,)  arrived  in  this  city  on  the  20th  of  the 
present  montli.  I  immediately  sent  for  him,  offer- 
ing him  a  handsome  gratification  to  give  us  a 
proof  of  his  ability.  He  verified  the  same  by  put- 
ting it  in  practice  on  the  27th,  at  the  mine  of  Rayas, 
with  a  wild  colt,  chosen  on  purpose  from  among 
the  wildest  and  fiercest  of  a  party  of  forty  of 
them,  which  had  just  arrived  there  to  be  gentled 
for  the  service  of  the  said  mine,  in  one  of  the  sta- 
bles of  which  he  began  the  operation  at  three 
quarters  past  ten  in  the  forenoon :  and  myself,  as 
well  as  several  other  spectators  of  this  performance, 
were  struck  with  amazement  at  beholding  this 
horse  at  two  o'clock  so  gentle,  that  after  having 
been  led  around  in  every  direction  by  the  halter, 
suffered  himself  to  be  rode  both  by  men  and  boys, 
as  well  bare-backed  as  saddled,  tightly  girted  and 
cruppered — permitting  them  to  get  upon  him  on 
either  side.  After  a  short  time,  being  let  loose,  he 
followed  any  one  who  went  before  and  motioned 
to  him  with  gentleness,  without  pulling  him  by  the 
halter — proceeding  to  where  several  persons  were 
standing  without  showing  any  signs  of  fear  at 
coming  up  to  them,  and  passing  in  the  midst  of 
them,  permitting  any  one  to  lift  up  his  feet  and 


TAMING  HORSES.  29 

handle  him  with  as  much  ease   as   they  could 
handle  the  gentlest  plough-horse.     Being  put  into  a 
large  yard,  he  ate  with  the  rest  of  the  wild  horses, 
his  companions,  and   in  going  a  second   time  to 
catch  him,  there  was  no  need  of  throwing  the  rope 
upon  him,  he  letting  any  one  come  up  before  him 
and  put  the  halter  upon  him.     The  third  day,  he 
w^as  rode  down  from  the  mine  to  this  city,  where  he 
was  shod  all  around,  standing  perfectly  still  when 
the  blacksmith  took  up  his  feet,  and  never  flinching 
at  the  stroke  of  the  hammer.     Being  shod  and  led 
out  before  a  great  number  of  people,  the  servant 
threw  the  saddle  over  his  head,  then  let  it  fall  over 
his  heels  and  on  either  side,  and  under  his  belly, 
without  frightening  him  in  the  least.     To  the  above 
relation  I  was  an  eye-witness,  since  I  was  present 
from  the  begiiming  to  the  end,  without  any  inter- 
ruption to  all  the  simple  and  jDrogressive  operations 
used  in  breaking  this  fiery,  wild  and  hitherto  un- 
tameable  animal :  being  astonished  above  all  to  see, 
that  in  them  this  dexterous  manager  made  no  use  of 
spurs,  whip,  clamor  or  exclamation ;  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, gentleness  and  caresses  were  the  only  means 
he  put  in  practice  to  bring,  as  it  w^ere  by  enchant- 
ment to  obedience,  this  wild  animal,  whose  tracta- 
bility,  even  at  this  time,  is  doubtless  much  greater 
than  that  which  is  observed  in  horses  of  a  gentle 
nature,  tamed  at  the  end  of  a  year  or  more,  with 


30  TAMING  HORSES. 

much  cost,  labor  and  danger,  often  losing  a  great 
part  of  their  natural  spirit  by  the  hard  usage  they 
undergo  whilst  one  is  breaking  them — and  more 
especially  those  of  a  noble  and  spirited  nature. 
As  a  proof  of  my  being  present  to  all  herein  rela- 
ted, and  wishing  to  encourage  such  an  extraordi- 
nary discovery,  I  sign  this  declaration,  which  I 
make  in  Guanajuato,  capital  city  of  the  state 
of  the  same  name,  &c.,  &c.,  August  30th,  1825. 
The  Marquis  of  San  Juan  de  Kayas. 


TAMING   HORSES.  81 


OBSERVATIONS  UPON  HORSES  IN  GENERAL  s 
AND  WHAT  LED  ME  TO   THE  DIS- 
COVERY OF  BREAKING  THEM 
IN  A  SHORT  TIME. 

The  first  experiments  I  made  upon  wild  horses, 
in  order  to  break  them  in  a  shorter  time  than  that 
usually  employed  to  that  end,  consisted  in  the  ap- 
plication of  different  kinds  of  smells,  such  as  opium, 
the  oil  of  cummin,  assafoetida,  that  callous  sub- 
stance called  the  spur  which  grows  upon  the  in- 
side of  a  horse's  fore-legs,  the  sweat  from  a  man's 
arm-pit,  mare's  milk,  &c.,  &c.  Opium  has  but 
little  effect  upon  a  horse,  even  if  he  smells  it  a 
considerable  time.  But  of  all  these  substances,  no 
one  tends  so  much  to  intoxicate,  and  even  sicken, 
not  only  a  horse  but  a  man,  as  that  taken  from  the 
horse  when  smelled  of  for  any  length  of  time. 
Any  one  who  may  doubt  the  veracity  of  what  I 
here  assert,  can  be  easily  convinced  by  experience, 
if  he  will.  In  the  next  place,  the  sweat  from  the 
arm-pit  has  a  tendency  to  render  a  horse  sleepy, 


32  TAMING  HOUSES. 

if  smelled  for  an  hour  or  two.  Some  horses,  thus 
rendered  sleepy,  can  be  handled ;  but  on  most 
horses  it  has  no  effect,  or  very  little.  Now,  as  I 
was  determined  to  publish  this  secret  some  day  or 
other,  in  its  true  light,  I  never  revealed  any  other 
till  now,  but  that  accompanied  with  some  one  of 
these  substances,  with  certain  directions  how  to  ap- 
ply them.  These  directions  contained  enough  of 
the  true  secret  to  tame  a  horse,  so  as  to  astonish 
the  most  penetrating.  Now  and  then,  a  horse 
would  remain  gentle  that  had  been  thus  tamed ; 
but  five  out  of  ten  would  become  wild  again. 
Whenever  I  broke  one  myself,  he  always  remained 
gentle.  Drinnen  sincerely  thought  that  some  of 
these  substances  were  necessary  to  gentle  a  horse. 
I  solemnly  declare,  before  God  and  man,  that  I  do 
not  believe  that  a  horse  can  be  tamed,  even  for  a 
short  time,  by  the  application  of  any  of  these  sub- 
stances, without  applying  to  him  more  or  less  of 
the  true  secret ;  and  furthermore :  I  declare,  that 
all  and  every  one  of  them  are  entirely  useless,  and 
of  no  effect.  God  is  my  witness,  that  if  ever  this 
secret  was  known  before,  I  never  learnt  it  from  any 
man ;  I  discovered  it  myself,  and  brought  it,  as  I 
believe,  to  its  greatest  perfection. 

A  horse  is  gentled,  by  my  secret,  in  from  two  to 
sixteen  hours.  The  time  I  have  most  commonly 
emi)loyed,  has  been  from  four  to  six.     After  my 


HALTKR    AND    BRIDLE    FOR    COLTS. 


TAMING   HORSES.  33 

first  experiments,  I  reflected  upon  the  nature  of 
horses  in  general,  many  of  which,  when  confined, 
appeared   to  fear  nothing:  notwithstanding   this, 
the  result  of  my  reflections  was,  that  fear,  much 
more  than  any  thing  else,  was  the  cause  of  their 
resistance ;  of  the  resistance  even  of  the  fiercest ; 
for,  although  these  latter  would  run  at  a  man, 
as  well  as  at   any  other   thing,  when   confined, 
yet,  if  they  were  let  loose,  and  turned  out  into  a 
field,  they  would  leave  him  and  scamper  away. 
Being  once  convinced  that  fear  was  the  only  cause 
of  the  obstinacy  seen  in  horses  taken  to  be  gentled 
by  force,  it  now  remained  to  discover  by  what 
means  that  fear  might  be  taken  away.     To  take 
away  fear,  is,  to  inspire  confidence ;  or,  inspiring 
confidence,  is  taking  away  fear.     I  believe  there  is 
no  person,  who  does  not  experience  a  more  agree- 
able sensation,  when  another  ^^erson  combs  his  hair, 
than  when  he  combs  it  himself.     To  be  vulgar, 
who  is  there,  that  has  not  found  a  pleasure  in  hav- 
ing another  rub  his  legs  or  arms,  hands  or  feet,  if 
he  felt   a  pain  in  them,  much   more  than  if  he 
rubbed  them  himself     We  all  know  what  pleasure 
it  gives  a  parrot  to  have  one  scratch  or  rub  him 
upon  the  head.     Now,  of  the  five  senses,  the  sense 
of  feeling  possesses  something  more,  as  to  its  influence 
of  materiality,  than  the  other  four.     It  has  a  simi- 
lar ^ect  upon  anim  als  as  upon  men.     Whereas,  the 


34  TAMING   HORSES. 

sense  of  hearing,    and   that  of  seeing,    liave,    in 
many  respects,  a  very  different  influence  upon  the 
human  species  to  what  they  liave  upon  animals. 
Animals,  in  general,  are  almost  or  quite  insensible 
to  that  pleasure,  which  the  human  species  enjoy, 
in  contemplating  beautiful  or  magnificent  objects, 
though  they  frequently  express  great  fear  at  others. 
They  experience  the  same  sensation  of  fear  at  sud- 
den or  disagreeable  sounds,  whilst  they  appear  al- 
most insensible  to  soft  and  melodious  ones.     The 
sense  of  feeling,  in  horses,  seems  to  be  as  exquisite 
as  in  men ;  and  in  some  cases,  more  so.     A  horse 
feels  a  lively  pain  at  the  stroke  of  a  whip,  or  the 
prick  of  a  join.     He  feels  a  pleasure  in  being  curried, 
rubbed  and  handled.     It  is  well  known,  that  an  ob- 
ject that  frightens  a  horse,  at  first  sight,  will  become 
familiar  to  him  in  a  short  time — even  in  a  few  min- 
utes.    The  same  may  be  said   of  those   sounds 
which  frighten  him  at  first :  such  as  the  explosion 
of  a  gun  or  cannon ;  to  all  of  which  he  soon  be- 
comes familiar,  provided  they  are  not  accompanied 
with  any  thing  that  operates  upon  the  sense  of  feel- 
ing; but  he  will  never  become  familiar  to  the 
crack  of  a  whip,  so  as  not  to  be  afraid  of  it,  if  he 
has  been  accustomed  to  experience  its  effects,  when 
vigorously   applied   to   his   back.     To   conclude: 
Take  away  Fear — Inspire  Confidence — Fami- 
liarize. 


TAMING  HORSES.  35 


THE  SECRET. 

"a  gentle  hand  may  lead  the  elephant  by 

A  HAIR." 

Cause  your  horse  to  be  put  into  a  small  yard, 
stable  or  room.  If  in  a  stable  or  room,  it  ought 
to  be  a  large  one,  in  order  to  give  him  more  exer- 
cise with  the  lialter,  before  you  lead  him  out.  If 
the  horse  belongs  to  that  class  which  appears  only 
to  fear  man,  you  must  introduce  yourself  gently 
into  the  stable,  room  or  yard  where  the  horse  is. 
He  will  naturally  run  from  you,  and  frequently 
turn  his  head  from  you ;  but  you  must  walk 
about  extremely  slow  and  softly,  so  that  he  can 
see  you,  and  whenever  he  turns  his  head  towards 
you,  which  he  never  fails  to  do  in  a  short  time,  say 
in  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  or  half  an  hour — I  never 
knew  one  to  be  much  longer  without  turning  to- 
wards me — at  the  very  moment  he  turns  his  head, 
hold  out  your  left  hand  towards  him,  and  stand 
perfectly  still,  keeping  your  eyes  upon  the  horse, 
and  watching  his  motions,  if  he  makes  any.  If 
the  horse  does  not  stir  for  ten  or  fifteen  minutes, 


36  TAMING  HORSES. 

advance  as  slowly  as  possible,  and  without  making 
the  least  noise,  always  holding  out  your  left  hand, 
without  any  other  ingredient  in  it  tlian  what  na- 
ture put  in  it.  The  reason  of  my  having  made 
use  of  certain  ingredients  before  people — such  as 
the  sweat  from  under  a  man's  arm,  &c. — was,  to 
disguise  the  real  secret ;  and  Drinnen,  as  well  as 
several  others,  believed  that  the  docility  to  which 
the  horse  arrived,  in  so  short  a  time,  w^as  owing  to 
those  ingredients.  It  will  be  seen,  in  this  expla- 
nation of  the  secret,  that  they  were  of  no  use, 
whatever;  but,  by  placing  so  much  confidence  in 
them,  those  who  had  succeeded  in  breaking  one 
horse,  failed  in  another,  and  that  is  what  I  foresaw. 
No  one  can  accuse  me  of  bad  faith,  to  whom  I 
discovered  this  or  any  part  of  th6  secret ;  for  I  al- 
ways intended  to  publish  the  whole.  In  the  second 
place,  many  revealed  what  I  had  told  them,  after 
the  most  solemn  promise  to  the  contrary.  Caution 
is  the  parent  of  safety :  I,  therefore,  by  multiply- 
ing the  ingredients,  caused  a  confusion  amongst 
those  who  thought  they  knew  the  real  secret. 
Though  I  revealed  enough  of  the  secret  for  a  man 
to  break  a  horse  in  a  few  hours,  it  was  not  enough 
to  make  the  horse  remain  gentle ;  that  is,  generally 
speaking :  for  some  horses  would  be  ^^erfectly  gen- 
tle ever  after ;  but  the  greater  number  would  not. 
The  implicit   faith  placed  in  these   ingredients, 


TAMING   HORSES.  37 

though  innocent  of  themselves,  became  faith  with- 
out works ;  and  thus  men  remained  always  in 
doubt  concerning  this  important  secret.  The  se- 
cret is  a  complete  lesson  of  morality;  for  all  is 

GENTLENESS PATIENCE PERSEVERANCE. 

But,  I  return  to  the  explanation  of  the  secret. 
If  the  horse  makes  the  least  motion  when  you  ad- 
vance towards  him,  stop  and  stand  perfectly  still 
till  he  is  quiet.  Remain  a  few  minutes  in  this  po- 
sition, and  then  advance  again  in  the  same  slow, 
almost  imperceptible  manner.  Take  notice:  If  the 
horse  stirs,  stop  without  changing  your  position.  It 
is  very  uncommon  for  a  horse  to  stir  nlore  than  once, 
after  you  begin  to  advance,  yet  there  are  excep- 
tions. He  generally  keeps  his  eye  steadfast  on 
you,  till  you  get  nigh  enough  to  touch  him  upon 
the  forehead.  When  you  are  thus  near  to  him, 
raise  slowly,  and  by  degrees,  your  hand,  and  let  it 
come  in  contact  with  that  part  just  above  the  nos- 
trils, as  lightly  as  possible.  If  the  horse  flinches, 
(as  many  will,)  repeat  Avith  great  rapidity  those 
light  taps  or  strokes  upon  the  forehead,  going  a 
little  further  up  towards  his  ears  by  degrees,  and 
descending  with  the  same  rapidity,  till  he  will  let 
you  handle  his  forehead  all  over.  Now  let  the 
strokes  be  repeated  with  more  force  over  all  his 
forehead,  descending  by  lighter  touches  to  each 
side  of  his  head,  till  you  can  handle  that  part 
4 


38  TAMING   HORSES. 

with  equal  facility.  Then  touch,  in  the  same  light 
manner,  making  your  hands  and  fingers  play 
around  the  bottom  or  lower  part  of  the  horse's  ears, 
coming  down,  now  and  then,  to  his  forehead,  which 
may  be  looked  upon  as  the  helm  that  governs  all 
the. rest.  Having  succeeded  in  handling  his  ears, 
advance  towards  the  neck  with  the  same  precau- 
tions, and  in  the  same  manner ;  observing  always 
to  augment  the  force  of  the  strokes,  whenever  the 
horse  will  permit  it.  Perform  the  same  on  both 
sides  of  the  neck,  till  he  lets  you  take  it  in  your 
arms  without  flinching.  Proceed  in  the  same  pro- 
gressive manner  to  the  sides,  and  then  to  the  back 
of  the  horse.  Every  time  the  horse  shows  any  un- 
easiness, return  immediately  to  the  forehead,  as  the 
true  standard,  patting  him  with  your  hands,  and 
from  thence  rapidly  to  where  you  had  already  ar- 
rived; always  gaining  ground,  a  considerable  dis- 
tance fi;rther  on,  every  time  this  happens.  The 
head,  ears,  neck  and  body  being  thus  gentled,  pro- 
ceed from  the  back  to  the  root  of  the  tail.  This 
must  be  managed  with  dexterity,  as  a  horse  is  never 
to  be  depended  upon  that  is  skittish  about  the  tail. 
Let  your  hand  fall  lightly  and  rapidly  on  that 
part  next  to  the  body  a  minute  or  two,  and  then 
you  will  begin  to  give  it  a  slight  pull  upwards 
every  quarter  of  a  minute.  At  the  same  time,  you 
continue  this  handling  of  him,  augmenting  the 


TAMING   HORSES.  39 

force  of  the  strokes,  as  well  as  the  raising  of  the 
tail,  till  you  can  raise  it  and  handle  it  with  the 
greatest  ease,  which  commonly  happens  in  a  quar- 
ter of  an  hour  in  most  horses ;  in  others  almost  im- 
mediately, and  in  some  much  longer.  It  now  re- 
mains to  handle  all  his  legs.  From  the  tail  come 
back  again  to  the  head ;  handle  it  well,  as  likewise 
the  ears,  neck,  breast,  &c.,  speaking  now  and  then 
to  the  horse.  Begin,  by  degrees,  to  descend  to  the 
legs,  always  ascending  and  descending,  gaining 
ground  every  time  you  descend,  till  you  get  to  his 
feet.  Talk  to  the  horse  in  Latin,  Greek,  French, 
English  or  Spanish,  or  in  any  other  language  you 
please,  but  let  him  hear  the  sound  of  your  voice, 
which  at  the  beginning  of  the  operation  is  not  quite 
so  necessary,  but  which  I  have  always  done  in  ma- 
king him  lift  up  his  feet: — "Hold  up  your  foot," 
•'  Leve  le  pied  " — "  Alza  el  pie  " — "  Aron  ton  poda," 
&c.,  at  the  same  time  lift  his  foot  with  your  hand. 
He  soon  becomes  familiar  with  the  sounds,  and 
will  hold  up  his  foot  at  command.  Then  proceed 
to  the  hind  feet,  and  go  on  in  the  same  manner; 
and,  in  a  short  time,  the  horse  will  let  you  lift 
them,  and  even  take  them  up  in  your  arms.  All 
this  operation  is  no  magnetism,  no  galvanism.  It 
is  merely  taking  away  the  fear  a  horse  generally 
has  of  a  man,  and  familiarizing  him  with  him,  as 
the  horse  experiences  a  certain  pleti^ure  from  this 


40  TAMING  HORSR^. 

handling  of  him.  As  a  striking  proof  of  this  as- 
sertion, I  will  relate  what  I  performed  in  the  state 
of  Neuvo  Leon,  upon  a  wild  boar,  taken  two  days 
before  in  the  woods,  without  being  wounded.  He 
was  shut  up  in  a  pen,  or  kind  of  cage,  and  was  so 
furious  that  he  had  eaten  nothing  for  thirty  hours. 
When  I  came  to  the  cage,  which  was  standing  in 
a  back  yard,  he  gnashed  his  teeth,  and  became  en- 
raged, and  foamed  in  a  terrible  manner.  I  stood 
still  before  him  for  more  than  three  quai'ters  of  an 
hour.  I  held  a  staff  in  my  hand,  around  the  end 
of  which  I  wrapped  a  cloth  pretty  tight,  and  ad- 
vanced it,  by  little  and  little^  towards  the  head  of 
the  boar.  He  at  first  tried  to  catch  it  in  his  mouth ; 
but,  by  continually  repeating  the  trial,  I  succeeded 
in  touching  the  bristles  of  his  head.  He  made 
some  resistance ;  but,  after  I  had  slightly  touched 
his  head  a  dozen  times,  he  stood  still,  I  contin- 
ued this  operation  around  his  head,  and  then  upon 
his  sides,  for  half  an  hour,  and  also  upon  his  belly 
and  back.  At  the  end  of  an  hour,  he  appeared 
half  asleep,  and  I  passed  the  staff  over  him  with 
great  facility,  till  at  last,  seeing  him  so  easy,  I  ven- 
tured to  pass  my  hand  through  the  grates,  and 
touch  him  with  it;  which,  so  lar  from  irritating 
him,  he  seemed  to  take  an  uncommon  pleasure  in 
being  rubbed  and  scratched.  Here,  it  must  be 
observed,  that,  instead  of  giving  light  strokes  or 


TAMING   HORSES.  41 

taps  with  the  hand  upon  this  animal,  as  I  do  with 
a  horse,  I  rather  scratched  and  rubbed  him ;  and, 
in  this  manner  I  continued,  till  I  handled  him 
with  as  much  ease  as  I  could  a  dog,  and  even  took 
hold  of  his  tusks.  I  left  him  for  half  an  hour,  and 
when  I  came  back,  he  was  eating  corn,  for  the  first 
time  since  he  had  been  caught.  He  appeared  to 
have  been  about  two  years  old.  In  the  afternoon, 
I  handled  him  again,  for  some  time;  and,  finding 
him  so  extremely  gentle,  I  ventured  to  take  him 
out  of  the  cage  into  the  yard,  though  Avith  the  pre- 
caution of  tying  a  rope  about  his  neck,  in  case  of 
his  becoming  refractory.  Before  I  took  him  out, 
however,  I  made  my  servant  and  tw^o  or  three  In- 
dian boys  handle  him.  This  last  precaution  was 
useless,  as  he  follow^ed  me  into  the  house,  and  ate 
corn  out  of  my  hand.  I  caused  him  to  be  handled 
and  fed  that  evening  and  the  next  morning,  when 
he  was  finally  turned  loose  among  the  pigs.  This 
was  in  the  year  1825.  I  came  away  the  next  day, 
and  heard  no  more  of  him,  and  have  never  had  a 
second  trial  upon  that  kind  of  animals. 

To  return,  again,  to  the  horse,  which  we  left  al- 
ready familiarized  to  man.  Supposing  him,  as  I 
said  in  the  beginning,  to  belong  to  that  class  which 
only  fears  man,  or  has  little  fear  of  any  thing  else : 
the  horse  is  gentle,  in  doing  which  you  may  have 
employed   two  or  three  hours ;    but   he   has   no 


42  TAMING   HORSES. 

knowledge  of  being  led  by  the  halter.  Put  the 
halter  on  him,  and  handle  him  in  the  forehead, 
and  pull  him  gently  round  towards  the  left,  form- 
ing a  circle.  Let  him  follow  you  several  times 
round  in  this  way,  till  he  will  go  as  fast  as  you 
wish  him  to  go.  Then  change  the  position,  and 
turn  to  the  right  in  the  same  manner,  talking  to 
him,  telling  him  to  come  along,  &c.  When  he  is 
familiar  with  forming  a  circle,  make  him  leave  it; 
and,  by  degrees,  he  Avill  follow  you  in  a  straight 
direction.  In  all  this  operation  stop  him  every 
now  and  then,  and  handle  his  head  and  all  his 
body,  &c.  When  he  is  following  you.  stop  him 
short,  always  speaking  to  him,  as  likewise  when 
you  start  him :  "  Come  on " — "  follow  me" — "come 
along."  In  a  short  time,  he  Avill  follow  you  with- 
out your  pulling  him  by  the  halter.  The  first  im- 
pression is  so  great  upon  horses,  that  a  horse  broken 
in  this  manner  will  always  follow  well  ever  after. 
Now  take  a  whip,  crack  it  at  him,  and  drive  him 
from  you,  but  without  whipping  him.  Then  go  up 
to  him,  and  handle  him  and  caress  him,  taking  his 
head  in  your  arms,  putting  your  arms  around  his 
neck,  &c.  Finally :  Take  away  the  fear  he  had 
of  you  at  first.  The  next  operation  is  to  saddle 
him,  which  is  done  almost  immediately,  if  he  be- 
longs to  the  second  class  of  horses,  which  fear  very 
little  else  than  man ;  and  as  he  will  make  no  resis- 


TAMING  HORSES.  43 

tance  at  being  saddled,  he  will  make  none  at  being 
ridden,  and  so  your  horse  is  broken. 

I  shall  now  explain  the  difference  to  be  observed 
in  gentling  the  third  class ;  that  is :  those  horses 
which  appear  to  fear  every  thing.  The  operation 
is  to  be  carried  on,  as  above  directed,  till  you  come 
to  that  part  where  you  are  to  saddle  him.  If  you 
should  undertake  to  put  the  saddle  on  a  horse  of 
this  latter  description,  he  would  fly  from  you  as 
quickly  as  a  deer,  although  you  might  handle  him 
with  the  greatest  ease.  How  shall  w^e  then  pro- 
ceed ?  Take  away  the  fear  he  has  of  different  ob- 
jects, by  making  him  acquainted  T»ith  them,  and 
convincing  him,  as  it  were,  by  gentle  means,  that 
those  objects  he  so  much  dreads  will  not  hurt  him. 
Familiarize  him  with  them.  In  order  to  succeed 
in  this,  every  thing  must  be  done  by  gradation. 
Firstly :  Take  a  handkerchief  and  move  it  gently 
before  him;  at  the  same  time,  you  handle  his  fore- 
head; make  him  smell  it;  toss  it  up  a  little  in  your 
hand  before  him,  till  he  is  not  frightened  at  it. 
Then  throw  it  upon  his  head,  and  over  his  ears : 
then,  by  degrees,  upon  his  neck,  and  so  continue 
on;  for  if  you  should  throw  it  immediately  from 
his  head  to  his  back,  or  on  his  sides,  he  Avould 
jump  and  kick  with  all  his  might.  Throw  it  upon 
his  back,  and  upon  his  sides ;  let  it  fall  off  on  one 
side,  and  then  on  the  other.     Let  it  fall  before  him 


44  TAMING   HORSES. 

and  behind  liim,  so  that  it  will  fall  upon  his  heels. 
Make  him  walk  with  it  upon  his  back.  Let  it  fall 
whilst  he  is  Avalkiug,  till  he  gets  completely  fami- 
liar with  it.  After  this,  take  some  one  or  two 
yards  of  heavy  gtuff,  such  as  cotton  bagging  or  the 
like,  throw  it  down  at  a  distance  two  or  three 
times ;  then  make  him  smell  it.  Throw  it  up  be- 
fore him  till  he  no  longer  flinches  at  it ;  then  over 
his  head,  always  talking  to  him,  from  time  to  time, 
and  handling  him  every  now  and  then.  Then 
throw  it  upon  his  back,  whilst  you  hold  it  in  your 
hand,  till  you  see  that  you  can  throw  it  upon  his 
back,  and  let  it  hang  down  upon  each  side,  with- 
out frightening  him.  Let  him  walk  round  with  it; 
then  make  him  trot  with  it,  till  it  falls  off.  Pick 
it  up  and  throw  it  upon  him  as  he  stands,  and  let 
it  fall  off  on  both  sides  of  him,  under  his  belly. 
Let  it  fall  off  from  behind,  over  his  heels.  Repeat 
this  last  operation  a  great  many  times,  and  lift  up 
his  tail  and  pull  it  smartly.  Tie  something  light 
to  it,  that  will  hang  down  over  his  hams ;  but  not 
so  low  as  to  touch  the  ground.  Make  him  follow 
you,  in  this  manner.  Afterwards,  tie  a  large  piece 
of  mat  or  something  similar  to  it,  so  that  it  Avill 
touch  and  drag  upon  the  ground.  Touch  him  and 
handle  him  in  the  forehead,  making  him  advance 
slowly  at  first,  then  faster,  till  you  make  him  run 
with  it,  and  go  around  in  every  direction,  till  he  be- 


TAMING   HORSES.  45 

comes  perfectly  familiar  with  the  object  tied  to  his 
tail.  Drive  the  horse  away  from  you.  Then  call 
him  back  again.  Untie  the  mat  from  his  tail,  and 
tie  it  to  his  neck,  letting  it  hang  down  on  one  side, 
and  making  him  run  in  the  same  manner  as  before. 
Take  it  off.  Take  a  rattling,  dry  deer-  skin  or  ox- 
hide, and  throw  it  down  at  some  distance  before 
the  horse.  Raise  it  up  and  throw  it  down  several 
times,  till  the  horse  pays  no  attention  to  it  when  it 
falls,  or  when  you  let  it  fall  and  rattle  it.  Let  it 
fall  close  before  him,  and  make  him  smell  of  it. 
Then  throw  it  upon  his  neck.  Let  him  first  walk 
and  then  run  with  it,  till  it  falls  off.  Then  con- 
tinue with  it,  as  you  did  with  the  mat,  till  you  tie 
it  to  his  tail,  and  let  him  walk  and  run  with  it, 
without  showing  the  least  signs  of  fear,  which  he 
will  do  in  a  very  few  minutes.  Next  comes  the 
girt.  To  familiarize  him  to  it,  you  will  take, 
firstly,  a  common  rope,  and  throw  it  over  his  back, 
and  make  him  walk  with  it.  Stop'  him,  and 
double  the  rope.  Let  the  middle  of  it  hang  upon 
the  right  side,  low  enough  for  you  to  take  it  in 
your  hand  where  it  is  doubled,  and  draw  it  to- 
wards you.  Slip  the  two  ends  of  the  rope  through 
the  doubled  part,  and  haul  it  gently  and  by  de- 
grees, as  if  you  were  girting  the  horse.  Loosen 
and  tighten  it  many  times ;  at  last,  fasten  it,  not 
very  tight.     Make  him  walk  and  run  in  this  man- 


46  TAMING  HORSES. 

ner.  Loosen  and  tighten  it  again,  till  you  have 
him  girted  up  with  the  rope  in  this  manner. 
Walk  and  run  him  in  this  way.  Stop  him. 
Throw  another  rope  around  his  body,  just  before 
his  hind  legs,  so  as  to  encompass  his  flanks.  At 
first,  let  it  rub  him  gently,  and  by  drawing  first 
one  end  and  then  the  other.  This  is  very  impor- 
tant, especially  if  the  horse  be  naturally  of  a  fear- 
ful, timid  nature.  The  effect  it  has  upon  him, 
ever  after,  is  truly  astonishing.  I  speak  after 
more  than  twenty  years'  experience,  having  done 
every  thing  as  above  directed.  Take  a  heavy 
Spanish  saddle,  with  wooden  stirrups,  if  you  have 
such  a  one.  Throw  it  down  before  him,  rattle  it 
well,  and  make  him  smell  of  it.  It  must  be  ob- 
served, that  in  all  these  manoeuvres,  you  must  now 
and  then  handle  the  horse,  by  taking  up  his  feet, 
speaking  to  him,  patting  him  all  over  on  both 
sides  pretty  vigorously;  going  away  from  him, 
then  running  suddenly  up  to  him,  &c. 

To  return  to  the  saddle.  Throw  it  up  towards 
his  back ;  and  if  he  makes  no  resistance,  as  it  is 
probable  he  will  not,  throw  it  upon  his  back  and 
girt  it  lightly.  Handle  him  in  every  part.  Strike 
first  lightly,  then  very  hard  upon  the  saddle :  walk 
him  and  run  him  with  it.  Stop  him,  and  girt  up 
tight.  Pull  upon  the  stirrups,  on  both  sides. 
Make  a  noise  upon  the  saddle,  by  striking  it  hard 


TAMING   HOESES.  47 

with  your  hand.  Handle  his  tail,  by  raising  it 
and  letting  it  fall,  and  striking  upon  it;  then  put 
a  small  cord  under  it,  in  form  of  a  crupper,  and 
tie  the  ends  to  the  hinder  part  of  the  saddle. 
Walk  and  run  him,  &c.  Pull  the  cord  that  serves 
as  a  crupper,  till  he  gets  familiar  with  it.  Unsad- 
dle :  saddle  up  again  immediately.  Put  on  the 
crupper  :  girt  up  tight.  Exercise  the  horse,  by 
leading  him,  and  making  him  run.  Stop  him  all 
at  once.  Put  your  hand  on  his  forehead.  Say  to 
him,  "Come  along:"  at  the  same  time  advance, 
and  pull  him  gently  by  the  rope.  In  a  short  time, 
you  may  let  the  rope  fall,  and  he  will  stop  at  the 
word  "  Stop,"  and  will  follow  you,  at  the  words, 
"Come  along,"  without  your  pulling  him  by  the 
rope.  Now  ungirt  the  saddle,  and  let  it  fall  down 
upon  the  left  side.  Put  it  loose  upon  the  horse 
again,  and  let  it  fall  several  times  upon  the  right 
side  and  over  his  heels.  Then  take  it  and  throw 
it  over  his  head,  upon  his  back;  saddle  him 
roughly,  striking  and  making  a  noise  upon  the 
saddle.  Pull  the  stirrups  strongly,  and  lead  him 
about.  Load  him  with  any  baggage  that  comes 
in  your  w^ay,  and  make  him  walk  and  run  with  it. 
Mount  half  way  upon  him,  bearing  hard  with  your 
left  foot  upon  the  stirrup:  then  upon  the  other 
side.  If  the  horse  shows  no  signs  of  fear  at  any  of 
these  operations,  yon  may  get  upon  him  with  all 


48  TAMING   HORSES. 

safety,  and  ride  him  through  the  most  populous 
city  in  America,  without  his  being  frightened  at 
any  of  the  objects  he  meets  in  it.  Bat  I  generally 
make  it  a  rule,  to  accustom  the  horse  to  sound,  be- 
fore I  take  him  out:  in  order  to  do  which,  I  take 
something  that  is  similar  to  a  drum,  or  an  empty 
barrel,  and  beat  upon  it  till  he  becomes  perfectly 
indifferent  to  it.  Then  I  show  him  a  pistol  or  a 
gun,  and  flash  it  before  him.  Then  I  load  it  very 
lightly,  and  fire  it  off  before  him,  close  to  his  head, 
making  him  smell  it  before  I  fire.  I  flash  it  off 
two  or  three  times  before-hand.  I  load  it  ^gain, 
and  by  repeating  this  exercise  two  or  three  times, 
you  may  fire  off  the  gun  while  placed  uj^on  his 
neck,  without  frightening  him  in  the  least. 

I  have  already  observed,  that  the  first  impres- 
sions are  the  strongest  and  most  lasting.  It  is  a 
great  deal  easier  to  learn,  than  to  unlearn.  There- 
fore, it  is  extremely  necessary,  that  the  horse 
should  be  exercised  in  every  thing  that  tends  to 
render  him  docile  and  useful,  when  you  thus  break 
him,  and  you  will  have  very  little  to  fear  from  him 
afterwards.  After  you.  have  thus  gentled  your 
horse,  so  as  to  be  able  to  ride  him,  it  will  be  neces- 
sary for  you  to  come  up  to  him  with  one  or  two 
other  persons:  let  them  touch  him,  and  let  him 
smell  at  them :  otherwise,  he  Avould  be  afraid  of 
other  people:  but,  by  coming  up  to  him  with  other 


TAMING   HORSES.  49 

persons,  he  will  let  any  one  handle  him  and  man- 
age him,  as  easily  as  the  one  who  broke  him.  The 
greater  part  of  wild  horses  thus  gentled,  will  go  off 
with  facility:  others  will  be  a  little  awkward  at 
first.  It  is,  perhaps,  the  best  way,  (though  I  have 
generally  ridden  them  out  alone,)  and  especially 
if  they  show  any  awkwardness  in  going  at  first,  to 
ride  them  out  in  company  with  another  horse.  It 
will  do  no  hurt  to  any.  Horses  broken  in  this  way, 
become  almost  immediately  bridle-wise,  and  need 
but  very  little  exercise,  to  obey  the  bridle  with 
uncommon  facility.  The  reason  is  plain:  they  are 
no  longer  afraid,  and  consequently  have  no  incli- 
nation to  resist. 

Having  thus  shown  how  one  must  proceed,  to 
break  the  second  and  third  class  of  horses,  I  now 
retrocede  to  the  first  class,  which  appear  to  fear 
nothing.  When  this  first  kind  of  horses  are  let 
loose,  after  having  been  dragged  by  force  into  a 
pen  or  stable,  it  is  very  dangerous  for  any  one  to 
go  in  where  they  are ;  for,  if  you  step  back  or  try 
to  get  out  of  their  way,  when  they  run  at  you,  they 
will  be  sure  to  bite,  kick  or  stamp  you  under  their 
feet.  But  if  you  stop,  stand  perfectly  still,  hold 
out .  your  left  hand,  and  look  at  the  horse,  he  will 
stand  still,  likewise,  before  he  arrives  at  where  you 
are.  This  may  appear  very  strange ;  but  so  it  is, 
and  I  have  experienced  it  very  often.  He  will 
5  D 


50  TAMING   HORSES. 

never  come  nigher  than  about  five  or  six  feet  to 
you ;  and  if  he  is  in  a  yard,  he  will  rarely  come 
nigher  than  ten  or  twelve.  Such  a  horse  should 
never  be  put  into  too  small  a  place.  Here  we 
must  make  use  of  a  precaution,  which  is  not  neces- 
sary in  the  two  other  kinds  of  horses :  and  give  me 
leave  to  say,  that  I  am  fully  persuaded,  that  no 
horse  of  this  description  was  ever  gentled  in  a  few 
hours  by  any  one  but  myself,  and  by  the  secret  which 
I  had  discovered.  The  precaution  I  speak  of,  is :  to 
let  no  one  come  into  the  stable  or  yard  with  you, 
for  it  would  be  dangerous.  His  attention  must  be 
fixed  upon  you,  and  your  hand  alone.  I  once 
came  near  being  killed,  by  a  horse  of  this  descrip- 
tion, before  I  had  discovered  this  part  of  the  secret. 
Therefore,  it  is  of  the  greatest  importance,  to  put 
the  horse  where  he  can  see  no  moving  object,  at 
the  time  you  approach  him.  The  case  I  men- 
tioned was  this:  I  was  about  to  draw  nigh  the 
horse,  after  having  entered  the  stable  where  he 
was,  and  after  he  had  stood  still  som^  time,  when, 
on  a  sudden,  a  hen  flew  down  from  a  scafibld  ex- 
actly over  the  stable  where  the  horse  stood,  and 
where  I  was  to  perform  the  operation.  The  horse 
gave  a  jump  at  me,  and  struck  his  foot  so  nigh  me, 
that  he  grazed  my  shoulder ;  then  turned  round 
almost  as  quick  as  lightning,  and  let  fly  a  pair 
of  heels,  which  knocked  ofl'  my  hat,  but  knocked  a 


TAMING   HORSES.  51 

useful  lesson  into  my  head.  From  that  day  for- 
ward, I  have  never  received  the  slightest  hurt,  or 
even  run  any  risk,  in  breaking  some  of  the  fiercest 
and  most  ferocious  horses  of  New  Spain.  But  to 
come  to  the  point.  Hold  out  your  left  hand,  keep- 
ing it  high  enough  to  touch  him  upon  the  forehead : 
keep  this  position  for  at  least  one  whole  hour, 
lowering  your  hand  now  and  then,  unless  the  horse 
should  advance,  after  ten  or  fifteen  minutes,  a  step 
or  two  towards  you  ;  in  which  case,  let  your  hand 
be  ready  to  meet  his  forehead,  rather  higher  up 
than  in  the  other  two  kinds  of  horses ;  and,  if  he 
should  appear  uneasy,  repeat  the  strokes  very  fast 
between  his  eyes,  fetching  your  hand  partly  over 
them  now  and  then.  Your  position,  at  first,  ought 
to  be  exactly  before  him.  1  hen,  by  degrees,  fall 
off  towards  the  left  side.  Never  flinch,  or  show 
any  signs  of  fear,  when  you  are  gentling  this  kind 
of  horses.  You  must  remain  a  great  deal  longer 
about  their  heads,  than  in  others.  They  will  often 
flinch,  and  frequently  show  signs  of  resistance, 
whenever  you  advance  an  inch  from  the  place  you 
have  already  handled;  so  tiiat  it  requires  some 
judgment,  and  more  patience,  to  know  how  to 
manage  them.  But,  by  going  on,  after  you  have 
once  touched  them,  as  you  would  do  with  the  other 
two  classes,  though  a  great  deal  slower,  you  will 
never  fail  of  making  them  as  gentle  as  a  lamb.     I 


52  TAMING   HORSES. 

never  employed  more  than  ten  hours  but  with  one, 
"which  belonged  to  the  Governor  of  San  Louis  Po- 
tosi,  Don  Jose  Ildefonso  Leon.  This  animal  kept 
me  between  fifteen  and  sixteen  hours,  in  gentling 
him ;  at  the  end  of  which  time,  men,  women  and 
children  could  ride  him  and  handle  him  with  as 
much  ease  as  they  could  any  old,  gentle  cart-horse, 
and  ride  him  bare-backed  through  the  streets  of 
the  city,  as  many  did — five  or  six  being  mounted 
upon  him  at  once.  For  he  was  a  stud  of  ten  years 
of  age,  of  great  strength,  of  the  Arabian  race,jind 
very  high  spirited  ;  and  the  governor  himself,  who 
possessed  several  thousands  of  wild  horses — and 
was  the  best  horseman  and  herdsman  in  America, 
always  had  thought,  for  the  last  four  years,  that  it 
was  not  in  the  art  of  man  to  break  him.  He  was  ^ 
offered  a  thousand  dollars  for  him  the  same  day  I 
finished  breaking  him,  by  an  English  gentleman, 
by  the  name  of  Humstead,  who  was  travelling 
through  the  country :  a  great  price,  in  a  country 
where  you  can  get  a  good  horse  for  thirty  or  forty 
dollars.  I  would  always  advise  a  man,  that  goes 
to  break  a  horse,  to  have  a  watch  with  him ;  for 
the  time  will  always  appear  long  to. him,  when  he 
undertakes  a  horse  of  this  description.  It  is  very 
uncommon  to  meet  with  a  horse  you  cannot  come 
up  to,  so  as  to  touch  him  in  the  forehead  with  your 
left  hand,  in  less  than  a  half  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 


TAMING  HORSES.  53 

Now,  any  person  who  may  in  the  least  doubt  of  his 
own  capacity  to  perform  the  operation,  according 
to  the  rules  laid  down  here,  can  always  have  a 
halter,  or  what   the   Spaniards  call   a  jaguima, 
(which  is  generally  used  in  riding  young  horses, 
before  the  bridle  is  put  on  them,)  put  upon  the 
wild  horse,  before  he  is  let  loose,  with  a  long  rope 
tied  to  it,  dragging  upon  the  ground.     When  he 
goes  in  to  the  horse  thus  haltered,  he  will  take  care 
to  take  the  rope  up  gently  in  one  hand,  whilst  he 
holds  out  the  other ;  taking  care  that  the  rope  may 
keep  clear  of  all  his  feet,  and  lie  before  him, 
gathering  it  up  as  he  approaches.     Another  pre- 
caution may  likewise  be  used,  by  23ersons  naturally 
afraid  of  horses,  which  is :  to  have  a  barrier  placed 
between  them  and  the  horse,  and  the  end  of  the 
rope  on  the  side  they  stand,  which  they  may  take 
hold  of,  and  jDroceed  as  above  directed.     The  bar- 
rier, if  made  use  of,  must  be  open  enough  for  the 
horse  to  have  a  full   view  of  the  person  who  is 
going  to  break  him.     It  is  always  a  considerable 
inconvenience;  but,  it  has  this  advantage :  it  places 
the  most  timid  out  of  the  reach  of  all  the  harm  he 
might  fear  from  horses  of  this  description,  till  he 
can  handle  their  head,  which  is  already  a  great 
point;  but,  as  one  can  handle  but  a  small  part  of 
the  horse,  in  this  manner,  it  is  necessary  to  go  in 

to  him  afterwards,  when  he  is  thus  a  little  famili- 
5* 


54  TAMING  HORSES. 

arized  to  you ;  for  there  is  no  danger,  after  you 
once  handle  his  head,  if  you  proceed  according  to 
the  above  directions;  that  is,  always  advancing  by 
degrees.  Whenever  you  can  handle  the  horse  in 
every  part,  you  must  handle  him  much  more  vig- 
orously than  at  first,  though  without  hurting  him. 
Those  horses  which  appear  to  fear  nothing,  but 
kick  at  every  thing  with  a  kind  of  spite,  and  run 
at  men  when  confined  in  a  close  place,  are  not  al- 
ways the  longest  in  becoming  j)erfectly  gentle. 
Though  a  man  may  sometimes  be  an  hour  before 
he  can  touch  them,  yet  they  frequently  become 
reconciled  to  him,  as  soon  as  he  can  handle  their 
head ,  and  it  is  not  unfrequent  to  see  them  very 
easy  to  be  saddled  and  ridden,  and  more  especially 
if  they  have  never  been  handled ;  because  a  horse 
that  has  once  been  taken,  in  order  to  be  broken 
the  common  Avay,  and  has  resisted  with  success ; 
that  is  to  say,  has  flung  his  rider  and  run  away — 
or  one  that  has  been  beaten,  whipped,  or  badly 
used  in  any  way,  is  a  great  deal  worse  than  one 
that  has  never  been  touched ;  for  it  is  more  diffi- 
cult to  unlearn  than  to  learn.  It  is  necessary  al- 
ways to  bear  in  mind,  what  I  have  said  concerning 
first  impressions. 

To  conclude :  To  which  soever  of  the  three  classes 
horses  belong,  deal  with  them  as  with  the  third 
class;  that  is,  those  that  fear   every  thing,  with 


TAMING   HORSES.  55 

this  difference :  the  first  class,  or  those  that  appear 
to  fear  nothing,  must  not  be  approached  so  sudden- 
ly as  the  others.     Take  notice :   Whenever  a  horse 
that  you  begin  to  handle,  hangs  down  his  head,  or 
apj)ears  sleepy  and  careless,  (and  this  will  happen 
in  some  in  less  than  an  hour,)  your  business  is  half 
over.     I  have  broken  an  extremely  wild  horse,  so 
as  to  saddle  him,  bridle  him,  and  make  him  follow 
me  without  pulling  him  by  the  halter,  and  so  that 
men,  women  and  children  have  riddeii  him,  with- 
out the  least  danger,  in  the  streets  of  one  of  the 
most    populous   towns   of    the   United    Mexican 
states:  and  this  I  have  done  in  less  than  two  hours 
from  the  time  I  went   into  the  place  where  the 
horse  was.     I   always  carried  a  watch  with   me, 
when  I  broke  a  horse.     I  have  now  and   then 
gentled  one,  so  as  to  ride  him  with  jDerfect  safety, 
in  less  than  one  hour.     However,  these  are  rare 
cases.     I  never  had  but  two  that  kept  me  ten 
hours,  and  one  nearly  fifteen  hours  and  a  half.     I 
began  him  at  two  o'clock,  and  worked  upon  him 
till  seven ;  and  the  next  day  I  began  at  five,  and 
finished  him  a  little  after  one  o'clock.     This  was 
the  Governor  of  San  Louis  Potosi's,  and  one  of  the 
highest  sjoirited  horses  I  ever  saw.    I  have  gene- 
rally employed  from  four  to  six  hours,  and  some 
times  eight,  in  rendering  a  horse  completely  gentle 
and  useful,  and  on  which  a  man  or  woman  might 


66  TAMING   HORSES. 

undertake  a  journey  of  a  tliousand  miles,  the  very 
next  day  alter  being  broken,  without  any  kind  of 
fear  of  hin  becotninj^  refractory  on  the  road. 

To  come  now  to  thcj  most  important  part  of  the 
secret.  I  observed,  in  the  beginning  of  my  dis- 
course u])on  tlie  experinients  I  had  made,  tiiat  I  was 
surprised  to  liiid  one  of  the  horses  1  had  gentled 
the  day  before,  almost  as  wild  as  ever,  and  one  of 
the  oLiiers  had  remained  perfectly  gentle.  I  saw 
there  was  something  lacking.  I  therefore  broke 
another;  and,  after  having  finished,  I  tied  him  in 
a  stable.  I  went  to  him  at  night,  and  made  a 
little  negro  boy  handhi  him  a  quarter  of  an  hour: 
gave  him  half  a  s[)()onful  of  line  salt,  and  not 
more  than  about  half  as  nmch  as  he  would  eat. 
Early  in  the  morning,  I  went  to  him  again, 
handled  him  in  tlie  foreiiead  and  all  over,  and 
took  up  his  feet,  &c.,  &c.,  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour : 
took  him  to  wat(M';  fetched  him  back;  gave  him 
another  spoonful  of  fine  salt,  and  plenty  to  eat 
afterwards.  I  rode  him  a  couple  of  miles,  and 
then  let  him  loose.  The  next  day,  I  caught  him 
in  the  yard,  amongst  the  other  horses,  without 
throwing  the  rope,  and  he  remained  gentle  ever 
after.  The  first  day  you  break  a  horse,  it  is  al- 
ways good  to  ride  him  two  or  three  miles;  if  fur- 
ther, it  will  do  him  no  hurt.  The  first  time  you 
ride  him  out,  it  will  be  well  enough  to  accompany 


TAMING   HORSES.  57 

him  with  another  horse,  though  this  is  not  abso- 
lutely necessary  ;  for  many  horses,  especially  high 
spirited  ones,  will  often  go  as  well  as  if  they  had 
been  gentied  ibr  a  long  time;  some  others  appear 
a  little  awkward  at  first,  but  in  half  an  hour  they 
will  go  well  alone.  At  any  rate,  they  will  not  be 
afraid  of  any  object  they  meet. 

I  have  here  given  the  whole  secret  of  taming, 
in  a  few  hours,  the  most  refractory  wild  horse. 

Whilst  residing  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  I  wrote  a 
grammar,  in  Greek,  Latin,  French  and  English, 
which  I  intend  to  publish,  in  order  to  simplify,  in 
some  measure,  the  study  of  the  former.  In  it  I  be- 
gin by  making  the  student  acquainted  with  the 
most  common  names — such  as  fall  under  his  im- 
mediate view.  The  names  of  birds,  fish,  plants, 
trees,  the  human  body  and  its  parts,  &c.,  &c.  In 
the  declination  of  all  these,  will  be  found  general 
rules;  but  all,  or  almost  all  of  these  rules,  are  sub- 
ject to  some  one  or  more  exceptions — as  is  the  case 
with  all  general  rules.  Thence,  perhaps,  came  our 
proverb :  There  is  no  rule  without  exception.  Now, 
as  gentling  a  horse,  and  writing  a  grammar,  are 
two  veiy  different  occupations,  yet  they  have  some 
things  which  are  common  to  both :  one  of  which  is, 
this  same  exception  to  the  general  rule.  I  have 
given  a  detail  of  the  method  I  use  in  breaking  the 
three  different  kinds  of  horses ;  that  is,  horses  in 


58  TAMING  HORSES. 

general ;  these  general  rules,  however,  are  liable  to 
some  few  exceptions.     I  have  had  horses  that  did 
not  appear  to  belong  to  any  one  of  the  three  kinds 
mentioned.     I    look   upon    them   as    exceptions. 
Among  these,  are  horses  that  toss  up  their  heads 
the  very  minute  you  touch  them,  and  will  not  let 
you  put  your  hand  upon  them.     The  first  of  these 
I  met  with  gave  me  so  much  trouble,  that  I  thought 
it  would  be  impossible  to  break  him.     I  tried  to 
touch  him  upon  the  forehead,  as  the  true  standard, 
but  could  not.     I  therefore  declared  him  to  be  an 
anomaly,  and  determined  to  decline  him  in  some 
other  way.     I  therefore  endeavored  to  touch  him 
upon  the  neck,  which  I  succeeded  in  doing  in  less 
than  five  minutes.     I   proceeded  on  in  handling 
him,  as  I  did  other  horses.     After  having  lifted  up 
his   feet,  and   handled  him   every  w^here   except 
about  his  head,  I  succeeded  in  gentling  that  part. 
He  always  remained  gentle,  and  not  in  the  least 
skittish  about  that  part.     To  succeed  in  handling 
his  head,  I  was  obliged  to  begin  at  that  part  of  the 
neck  nighest  to  the  ears,  and  continue  on  to  them, 
and  then  to  the  upper  part  of  his  forehead,  between 
his  eyes ;  and  so  descend  to  his  nose,  in  the  same 
progressive  manner  as  I  ascend  in  other  horses.     1 
had  tried  every  possible  means  to  begin  at  that 
part,  but  found  it  utterly  out  of  my  power. 

Another  exception  to  the  general  rule,  are  those 


TA]VnNG   HORSES.  69 

>> 

horses  wliich,  after  having  been  begun,  and  already 
handled  in  the  forehead,  show  an  inclination  to 
bite,  as  you  proceed  on,  and  Avould  actually  do  so, 
without  your  taking  some  precaution.  Now,  as 
my  general  rule  of  gentling  horses  is  all  mildness, 
gentleness,  &c.,  except  from  this  rule  horses  of  this 
latter  description ;  and,  whenever  they  show  an  in- 
clination to  bite,  correct  them  by  giving  them  a 
pretty  smart  slap  with  your  hand,  and  they  will 
never  repeat  it  more  than  two  or  three  times.  I 
never  knew  this  to  happen  with  horses  of  tlie  first 
description,  which  one  would  be  naturally  inclined 
to  suppose  more  apt  to  do  so  than  any  others.  As 
to  the  rest,  proceed  as  in  others.  If  you  wish  your 
horse  to  go  in  a  cart,  coach  or  plow,  after  having 
gentled  him  in  this  manner,  harness  him,  put  on 
lines,  and  at  first  make  him  go  round  before  you 
several  times :  you  will  tie  some  light  thing  behind, 
for  him  to  drag,  and  go  on  progressively,  and  in  a 
very  short  time  you  may  harness  him  to  a  cart,  or 
plough,  and  he  will  go  off  without  difficulty ;  es- 
pecially if  you  do  this  immediately  after  having 
gentled  him,  for  then  is  the  best  time  to  take  away 
all  caprices.  It  is  well  to  give  him  a  few  days  ex- 
ercise. 

Observation.  If  the  horse  you  are  going  to 
break  has  received  a  blow  upon  his  forehead,  his 
ears,  or  about  any  part  of  his  head,  so  that  it  is 


60  TAMING  HORSES. 

sore  or  painful  when  touched,  it  is  useless  to  un- 
dertake to  break  him  before  he  gets  well :  for  the 
very  touch  \vliich  would  give  him  pleasure  being 
well,  gives  him  pain  in  this  situation,  and  the  more 
you  try  to  handle  him  the  more  you  will  irritate 
him.  Let  him  get  well,  before  you  undertake  to 
gentle  him. 


TAMING   HORSES.  61 


REFRACTORY    HORSES     GENTLED    FOR     A 
LONG  TIME  IN  THE  COMMON  WAY. 

I  begin  first  with  those  which  are  afraid  of  a  gun, 
or  the  like.  Cause  a  pen  to  be  made,  j  ust  big  enougli 
to  put  the  horses  in,  and  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  be  able  to  go  round  it  in  every  direction,  as  well 
behind  as  before ;  and  let  the  bars  be  far  enough 
apart  for  you  to  handle  him  every  where.  Let 
him  remain  in  his  pen  or  cage  from  two  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon  till  the  next  morning,  without  eating 
or  drinking.  The  pen  ought  to  be  made  so  high, 
that  the  horse  cannot  reach  his  head  over  it,  and 
with  four  strong  posts  in  the  ground,  so  that  if  he 
should  fall  back  upon  the  bars,  that  traverse  it  be- 
hind, his  weight  Avill  not  be  sufficient  to  break  or 
derano;e  them.  Go  to  him  in  the  mornino;.  Han- 
die  him  smartly  a  few  minutes ;  then  stand  at  a 
distance  before  him,  with  your  gun  in  your  hand, 
without  moving  it,  but  so  that  he  can  see  it.  If  he 
is  frightened  at  it,  keep  your  position  for  some 
time,  till  he  remains  quiet,  then  flash  it  off.  Re- 
peat this,  till  he  is  in  some  measure  reconciled  to 
it.  Draw  nigher.  Repeat  the  same :  flash  it  off 
6 


62  TAMING   HORSES. 

before  him,  very  nigh.  Handle  him  in  the  fore- 
head, and  hold  the  gun  in  one  of  your  hands.  Go 
on  thus  progressively,  till  you  can  load  and  fire  it 
off  over  his  head,  with  as  heavy  a  charge  as  you 
wish  to  put  in  it,  which  you  will  be  able  to  do  in 
about  two  or  three  hours.  When  you  have  gone 
thus  far,  run  suddenly  up  to  him,  Avith  your  gun 
in  your  hand.  Handle  him  in  the  forehead,  holding 
it  still  in  your  hand.  Exercise  him  well  in  this  way, 
till  he  does  not  flinch  or  show  any  signs  of  fear,  when 
you  thus  approach  him.  Now,  you  suppose  the 
work  to  be  completed?  If  you  do,  you  are  very 
much  mistaken;  for  you  must  recollect,  that  he 
has  much  to  unlearn.  Take  away  Fear — Inspire 
Confidence — Familiarize — are  three  great  lessons 
to  be  taught,  in  the  art  of  gentling  a  wild  horse; 
and,  to  bring  a  rebellious  horse  to  obedience,  you 
must  add,  Unlearn.  Repeat  the  same,  unlearn, 
&c.,  till  he  is  completely  gentle. 

Now  give  your  horse  a  plenty  to  eat  and  drink. 
I  suppose  it  to  be  about  ten  o'clock.  Let  him  rest, 
if  he  will.  Repeat  your  lessons  at  four  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  more  or  less  rapidly,  according  as 
he  is  inclined  to  obey  them.  Feed  him  at  night ; 
let  him  remain  in  the  pen  all  night.  Next  day, 
go  over  the  same  exercise ;  at  the  end  of  which,  if 
you  think  him  sufficiently  docile,  take  him  out  of 
the  pen,  and  go  through  the  same  exercise  that 


TAMING   HOESES.  63 

you  did  whilst  he  was  in  the  pen.  If  he  shows  no 
signs  of  fear  at  the  explosion  of  the  gun,  when 
fired  off  from  his  back  or  neck,  you  are  sure  of 
him.  But  you  must  exercise  him  a  little,  for  two 
or  three  days  more ;  at  the  end  of  which,  you  may 
always  rely  on  him  afterwards.  Should  he  be 
somewhat  refractory,  when  you  take  him  out  of  the 
pen,  which  would  be  a  rare  case,  though  some 
horses  may  be,  put  him  again  into  it,  and  repeat, 
and  you  will  never  fail  to  succeed.  In  the  same 
progressive  manner,  you  can  correct  the  defects  of 
a  skittish  horse,  in  a  great  measure;  but  some  are 
of  so  fearful  a  nature  that,  if  they  have  been 
gentled  in  the  common  way,  it  requires  a  great 
deal  of  patience  to  manage  them. 


A  SKITTISH   HORSE. 

The  best  method  of  correcting  a  horse  of  this^ 
description,  when  one  is  on  the  road,  is,  to  stop  him 
suddenly,  whenever  he  appears  to  be  frightened  at 
any  thing  he  sees  before  him  or  at  his  side.  Let 
him  stand  perfectly  still :  get  down,  if  he  does  not 
become  quiet  in  three  or  four  minutes,  and  handle 
him  in  the  forehead.  Lead  him  by  the  bridle  to 
the  object  that  frightened  him :  then  lead  him  back 
to  where  he  was,  and  get  on  him.     K-ide  him  up  to 


64  TAMING   HORSES. 

it,  &c.  You  can  likewise  give  him  the  same  exer- 
cise as  you  do  to  a  wild  horse  of  the  third  kind, 
and  you  will  not  fail  to  succeed  in  correcting  him 
by  repeating  it  several  times.  I  never  knew  a 
horse  to  b*3Come  skittish  that  I  had  gentled  by  my 
secret,  though  I  am  not  certain  that  such  a  thing 
might  not  happen ;  for,  as  I  said  before,  there  is  no 
rule  without  an  exception. 


A    HORSE    THAT   WILL    NOT    SUFFER    HIS 
EARS  TO  BE    TOUCHED 

Begin  at  his  forehead,  just  above  the  nose,  and 
handle  it  in  the  same  manner  as  you  would  do 
with  a  wild  horse,  according  to  the  rules  laid 
down  in  that  part  of  the  secret.  Gentleness,  Pa- 
tience, Perseverance,  Faith ;  all  these  are  neces- 
sary, in  order  to  succeed  with  some  horses.  It  has 
taken  me  from  five  to  six  hours,  to  be  able  to 
handle  the  ears  of  some  horses;  but,  at  the  end  of 
that  time,  they  let  me  handle  them  with  as  much 
ease  as  I  could  those  of  a  house-dog.  They  will 
always  let  you  handle  them  afterwards. 

Shortly  after  my  arrival  in  Mexico,  a  gentleman 
who  had  read  an  article  which  the  President  had 
caused  to  be  published  in  the  government  paper, 
concerning  what  I  had  done  with  a  wild  horse  that 


TAMING   HORSES.  65 

I  had  gentled  in  his  presence,  a  few  days  before, 
sent  for  me,  telling  me  he  had  a  horse  of  great  value, 
that  he  had  given  only  five  hundred  dollars  for, 
on  account  of  a  defect,  or  vice,  that  the  horse  had 
contracted  two  years  before,  and  which  had  aug- 
mented to  such  a  degree,  that  he  would  have  killed 
any  one  that  would  have  attempted  to  put  a  bri- 
dle on  him,  or  touch   him  about  the   ears.     He 
asked  me  if  I  thought  I  could  cure  him  of  this  evil 
habit.     I  told  him  I  would  try;  and,  accordingly, 
I  sent  every  person  aw^ay,  and  went  in  to  the  horse. 
I  had  taken  the  precaution  of  having  a  halter 
(jaguima)  put  upon  him  before-hand,  and  a  long 
rope,  dragging  upon  the  ground,  tied  to  it.     In 
order  to  put  this  halter   upon  him,  they  had  to 
throw  a  rope  upon  his  legs,  and  tie  them,  and  an- 
other around  his  nose ;  and  this  was  a  ceremony 
they  had  to  perform  every  time  they  j^ut  the  bri- 
dle on  him.     When  I  had  got  in  where  the  horse 
was,  I  took  up  the  rope  and  advanced,  holding  out 
my  left  hand,  as  when  I  break  a  wild  horse,  and 
came  up  to  him.     I  used  a  great  deal  of  precaution, 
when  I  touched  him  in  the  forehead  for  the  first 
time,  as  I  do  with  a  horse  belonging  to  the  first 
class,  that  is,  those  that  seem  to  fear  nothing ;  and,  . 
continuing  on  in  this  manner,  gradually  ascending, 
making  my  fingers  play  upon  his  forehead  with 
great  rapidity — gaining  ground  so  slow,  that  I  re- 
6*  E 


66  TAMING   HORSES. 

mained  two  hours  before  I  came  to  the  roots  of  his 
ears,  which  I  began  to  touch  very  lightly  at  the 
end  of  another  half  hour ;  and,  by  continuing  the 
operation  an  hour  longer,  I  was  able  to  handle 
them  with  ease  and  safety.  A  few  minutes  after, 
I  bridled  him,  led  him  about,  and  made  him  fol- 
low me,  without  pulling  him  by  the  bridle.  I 
took  it  off,  and  put  it  on  again.  I  repeated  this 
exercise  several  times.  Then  I  called  in  my  ser- 
vant, and  made  him  bridle  and  unbridle  him. 
Then  sent  him  to  tell  the  owner  of  the  horse  to 
come  and  see  him. 

Give  me  leave  here  to  observe,  that  when  I  per- 
formed upon  a  horse,  I  never  let  any  one  be  present, 
(for  fear  they  might  discover  the  real  secret,)  ex- 
cept such  a  gentleman  as  I  knew  would  give  me  a 
handsome  gratification :  for  a  man  is  always  more 
or  less  willing  to  pay  to  satisfy  his  curiosity  as 
well  as  his  interest. 

The  owner  of  the  horse  came  in  where  he  was 
standing  without  rope  or  bridle.  I  called  a  little 
Indian  boy,  who  had  never  bridled  a  horse  in  his 
life,  and  gave  him  the  bridle ;  and,  as  the  horse's 
head  was  too  high  for  him  to  reach  up  to  it,  I  told 
him  to  get  into  a  chair,  and  put  the  bridle  on. 
His  master  cried  out,  "For  God's  sake,  don't  let 
him  go  nigh  him !  I  cannot  yet  have  confidence 
enough  in  that  animal,  to  let  the  little  boy  go  nigh 


TAMING   HORSES.  67 

hira :  I  know  he  would  kill  him,  though  Beelzebub 
himself  had  been  to  work  at  him  since  the  time  you 
first  went  into  the  stable !  "  I  then  went  and  put 
on  the  bridle  myself,  and  took  it  off;  then  he 
agreed  to  let  the  little  Indian  do  the  same,  which 
he  did,  as  may  be  supposed,  in  a  very  awkward, 
fumbling  manner,  standing  all  the  while  in  a  chair, 
to  the  great  surprise  of  his  master,  Avho  then  came 
in  and  bridled  him  himself,  and  made  me  a  pre- 
sent of  eight  doubloons,  (a  hundred  and  twenty- 
four  dollars.) 


TO  BREAK  A  HORSE  OF  KICKING. 

Handle  the  kicking  horse  in  the  forehead,  and 
from  thence  every  where,  except  his  legs  and  feet. 
Then  tie  up  one  of  his  fore  legs,  (no  matter  which)  ; 
handle  him  gently  all  over,  and  descend,  by  de- 
grees to  his  feet,  always  speaking  to  him :  he  will 
let  you  handle  them  in  a  few  minutes.  Untie  his 
fore  leg,  and  go  through  the  same  ceremony. 
After  repeating  this  operation  two  or  three  times, 
he  will  let  any  one  handle  his  feet  with  the  great- 
est ease  imaginable. 


68  TAIVHNG  HORSES. 


HOW  TO  MANAGE  A  HORSE  THAT  KICKS 

UP,   SO   AS   TO   BREAK    HIM    OF    THAT 

VICIOUS  HABIT. 

A  horse  that  is  apt  to  kick  up,  ought  to  be  dealt 
with  in  the  following  manner;  Put  upon  him  a 
pack-saddle,  if  you  have  one ;  if  not,  something  as 
nigh  to  it  as  possible.  Take  two  bags,  and  put 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds  of  sand  in 
each,  if  your  horse  is  a  common  sized  one  Girt 
them  on,  or  bind  them  very  tight,  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  no  effort  of  the  horse  can  throw  them  off. 
Have  another  horse  prepared  at  hand,  and  some 
one  mounted  on  him  to  take  hold  of  the  rope  of 
the  vicious  horse,  the  moment  he  is  loaded  with 
the  sand.  Let  him  start  off,  with  another  horse- 
man behind  with  a  good  whip  in  his  hand ;  and 
the  more  he  kicks  up,  let  him  whip  him  the  more ; 
or,  in  other  words,  let  him  whip  him  every  time  he 
kicks  up.  Let  him  trot  off  thus,  about  ten  or 
fifteen  miles ;  at  the  end  of  which,  take  off  his  load, 
and  let  some  one  get  immediately  upon  him,  and 
trot  back  with  the  same  speed.  After  having  ex- 
ercised him  thus,  for  two  or  three  times,  it  is  not 


TAMING   HORSES.  69 

common  that  a  horse  will  ever  kick  up  again. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  that  if  the  horse  should 
kick  up  with  the  load  of  sand  at  the  end  of  ten 
miles  or  more,  make  him  go  at  least  three  miles 
after  he  has  ceased  kicking  up ;  but  it  is  very  un- 
common for  a  horse  to  kick  up,  after  the  first  three 
or  lour  miles.  If  he  should  appear  a  little  tired, 
you  can  regulate  the  distance,  more  or  less,  and 
vice  versa.  I  believe  this  to  be  the  most  infallible 
remedy  known,  without  exposing  one's  self.  There 
are  other  remedies,  which  none  but  a  good  horse- 
man can  put  in  practice;  but  I  write  for  every 
class  of  men  that  ride  on  horseback,  whether  doc- 
tors, lawyers  or  priests,  farmers  or  merchants.  If 
this  advice  should  save  a  few  necks  from  getting 
broken,  I  shall  feel  gratified. 


TO  HANDLE  A  HORSE'S  FEET  THAT  IS  APT 
TO    KICK 

Put  him  in  a  pen,  and  go  on  progressively,  till 
you  can  handle  all  his  feet  as  you  would  a  dog's. 
It  must  be  recollected,  that  when  I  speak  of  put- 
ting a  horse  in  a  pen,  I  suppose  them  to  be  of  the 
most  refractory  kind  imaginable;  otherwise,  I  can 
handle  a  bad  horse's  feet,  in  a  very  few  minutes,  by 
befrinuino^  at  his  forehead,  and  so  on. 

Co  ' 


70  TAMING   HORSES. 


TO  TEACH  A  HORSE,  SO  THAT  HE  WILL  NOT 
LET  A  PERSON  DRESSED  IN  A  CERTAIN 
MANNER  COME  NIGH  HIM. 

If  you  would  not  wish  to  have  a  person,  for  ex- 
ample, wearmg  a  white  hat,  come  nigh  your  horse, 
put  on  a  white  hat,  go  into  the  stable  where  your 
horse  is,  and  take  a  whip  in  your  hand  :  go  up  to 
him,  and  give  him  a  few  good  lashes  with  it.  Re- 
tire and  change  your  hat  for  one  of  another  color  : 
leave  your  whip,  come  in  again  without  it ;  stroke 
your  horse,  pat  him,  talk  to  him  and  feed  him. 
Go  out  again,  and  put  on  your  white  hat :  come  in 
and  whip  him  soundly.  Then  retire,  put  on  ano-r 
ther  hat,  and  come  in  and  handle  him  gently. 
Repeat  the  same  for  a  few  days,  and  your  horse 
would  as  lief  see  the  devil  as  a  man  with  a  white 
hat,  and  will  not  let  such  a  one  come  near  him; 
and  thus  it  will  happen  with  any  other  clothing. 

I  will  relate  a  little  anecdote,  which  took  place 
in  Mexico,  a  few  years  before  I  left  there.  One 
of  my  friends  had  a  horse  extremely  gentle,  and 
of  such  an  easy,  agreeable  gait,  that  he  took  the 
greatest  care  of  him,  and  held  him  at  a  great  price. 


TAMING   HORSES.  71 

A  well-fed,  big  and  lusty  friar  was  a  friend  to  our 
neighbor :  one  who  liked  the  good  things  of  this 
world,  as  well  as  he  liked  to  ride  out  to  the  small 
towns,  bordering  upon  the  city  of  Mexico,  and  take 
a  dinner  with  the  bonny  lasses  and  countrymen, 
inhabiting  those  villages.  He  used  to  ask  my 
friend  to  loan  him  his  horse,  to  take  these  ex- 
cursions just  around  the  capital;  and,  as  his  re- 
quests were  granted  with  so  good  a  grace,  he  in  a 
short  time  went  so  far  as  to  ask  the  loan  of  this  fa- 
vorite animal,  to  go  to  Cuernavaca,  a  distance  of 
eighteen  leagues,  or  fifty  miles.  As  this  happened 
pretty  often,  our  friend  complained  to  me  one  day, 
at  the  indiscretion  of  the  friar.  I  asked  him  if  he 
could  procure  me  a  friar's  dress,  for  a  few  days, 
and  leave  his  horse  with  me,  for  the  same  time. 
He  did  so.  I  dressed  myself  in  the  friar's  dress, 
and  went  in  Avhere  the  horse  was.  I  took  a  good 
whip  in  my  hand,  and  made  him  do  penance  for  no 
other  sin  but  that  of  too  nmch  gentleness.  In  going 
out  I  took  off  the  friar's  dress,  and  went  in  again 
in  my  own  dress,  and  handled  him  gently.  I  re- 
peated the  operation  a  few  days,  at  the  end  of 
which,  I  took  the  horse  back  to  his  master,  and 
told  him  he  might  lend  him  to  the  friar  whenever 
he  pleased.  A  day  or  two  after,  he  came  to  my 
store.  Your  remedy,  said  he,  has  had  a  marvellous 
effect.     Our  monk  has  just  left  my  house,  perfectly 


72  TAMING   HORSES. 

persuaded  that  my  horse  is  possessed  with  the 
devil.  For,  when  the  holy  personage  came  up  to 
take  him  by  the  bridle  to  get  on  him,  he  was  so 
frightened,  and  wheeled  round  so  quick,  and  flew 
away  from  him  with  so  much  terror,  that  one 
would  have  said  he  took  him  for  the  destroying 
angel.  The  friar  crossed  himself  many  times,  hur- 
ried away  with  all  haste  to  his  convent,  to  sprinkle 
himself  abundantly  with  holy  water,  and  never 
asked  my  friend  for  his  horse  again. 


TO  TEACH  YOUR  HORSE,  SO  THAT  HE  WILL 

LET  NO  ONE  BUT  YOURSELF  COME  NEAR 

HIM. 

Whilst  your  horse  is  eating,  let  another  person 
come  in  to  him  with  a  stick  sharpened  at  the  end. 
Let  him  prick  his  nose  with  it,  to  irritate  him ; 
but  slightly,  drawing  back  at  the  same  time.  Let 
him  repeat  the  same  an  instant  afterwards,  and 
every  time  the  horse  begins  to  eat  again.  Come  to 
him  yourself,  and  caress  him  and  talk  to  him.  Go 
out  again,  and  cause  another  person  to  come  in 
with  the  sharpened  stick;  but  not  the  same  one 
that  came  in  at  first.  Let  him  fret  him  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  other  did.  Call  him  out  and 
go  in  yourself;  handle  the  horse  gently,  and  talk 


TAMING  HORSES.  73 

to  him.  Call  in  a  third,  and  a  fourth,  and  perform 
the  same ;  always  retiring  suddenly  from  the  horse, 
as  if  they  were  afraid  of  him,  every  time  he  leers 
at  them,  or  endeavors  to  bite  them.  These  lessons, 
repeated  a  few  days,  will  inspire  your  horse  with 
so  much  mistrust  against  every  person  but  your- 
self, and  a  certain  confidence  in  his  own  strength, 
that  he  will  not  suffer  any  one  but  yourself  to 
come  near  him. 


TO  PREVENT  A  HORSE  FROM  PULLING  UPON 

HIS  BRIDLE-REINS,  IN  ORDER  TO  BREAK 

THEM. 

Put  a  halter,  (of  that  kind  which  Spaniards  call 
a  jaquima,  used  to  iride  young  horses:  it  goes  over 
their  ears,  comes  down  and  crosses  their  nose,  and 
has  a  throat-latch  to  it,)  upon  your  horse,  so  strong 
that  it  cannot  be  easily  broken,  and  tie  it  to  a  tree 
so  small  that  it  will  bend  a  little,  if  the  horse  pull* 
with  all  his  strength.  Scare  him.  Run  up  before 
him.  Give  him  even  a  light  stroke  or  two  with 
the  whip :  speaking  to  him  to  be  quiet,  whenever 
he  pulls  upon  the  rope.  In  a  short  time,  he  will 
see  that  it  is  imposssible  for  him  to  break  it ;  and, 
by  exercising  him  twice  a  day  for  half  an  hour, 

each  day  in  about  a  week,  he  will  no  longer  pull 

7 


74  TAMING  HORSES. 

upon  the  halter,  when  you  scare  him,  and  conse- 
quently will  stand  still  afterwards,  when  hitched 
by  the  bridle. 


THE   MEXICAN   MODE   OF    PREVENTING   A 
HORSE    FROM    BREAKING    HIS    BRIDLE. 

The  Mexicans,  when  they  ride  out,  always  carry 
a  beautiful  hair  rope,  hanging  from  their  horse's 
neck.  Whenever  they  stop,.they  hitch  or  tie  their 
horses  by  this  rope ;  and  this  simple  method  keeps 
them  from  breaking  their  bridle-reins.  I  would 
advise  every  one  to  do  the  same ;  especially  if  he 
stops  long,  is  on  a  journey,  or  rides  a  stud.  Mer- 
chants and  saddlers  may,  perhaps,  not  like  this 
advice,  but  I  write  for  all.  •  They  likewise  sell 
ropes. 


HOW  TO   MANAGE  A  HORSE   THAT   GETS 

THE  STUDS,  OR  ONE  THAT  STOPS  AND 

WILL  NOT  ADVANCE  A  STEP  WHEN 

YOU  PUT  HIM  TO  A  PLOUGH,  &c. 

When  your  horse  is  harnessed,  and  put  before 
the  plough,  and  you  find  it  impossible  to  drive  him 
forward,  either  by  gentle  or  rough  means,  drive 


TAMING   HORSES.  75 

down  a  strong  stake  or  post,  at  the  very  place 
where  he  stops.  Let  it  be  so  strong  that  he  can- 
not break  it  by  pulling.  Then  put  a  rope  upon 
him  equally  strong ;  tie  him  rather  short.  Take 
out  your  watch,  if  you  have  one ;  if  not,  look  at 
the  sun.  Let  him  remain  in  this  position  for 
twelve  houi-s,  without  eating  or  drinking.  If  the 
days  are  short,  I  would  advise  you  to  tie  him  a 
little  before  sun-set,  and  let  him  remain  all  night. 
Go  to  him,  untie  him,  and  then  speak  to  him  to  go 
on.  He  will  undoubtedly  advance.  Make  him 
plough  two  or  three  rounds ;  then  unharness  him, 
and  give  him  something  to  eat,  after  having  wa- 
tered him,  and  put  him  again  in  the  plough,  should 
he  stop  again,  do  with  him  as  at  first,  and  let  him 
stand  nine  or  ten  hours.  It  is  rare  that  you  have 
to  repeat  the  operation :  almost  all  horses  go  after 
the  first  time  they  have  been  thus  managed. 


HOW   TO  TEACH  A   HORSE   TO  LIE   DOWN 
AT  THE  WORD  OF  COMMAND. 

Tie  up  the  horse's  right  foot  with  a  handkerchief, 
or  a  buckled  strap,  or  something  that  is  not  so 
hard,  as  a  common  rope.  Hold  him  close  by  the 
bridle-reins.  Then  take  a  small  stick  in  your 
right  hand,  and  strike  gently  upon  the  horse's  left 


76  TAMING  HORSES. 

leg,  pulling  downwards  at  the  same  time  upon  the 
bridle-reins,  which  you  hold  in  your  left  hand, 
speaking  to  the  horse,  and  telling  him  to  lie  down. 
Every  time  you  strike  his  left  leg,  bear  a  little 
against  him,  and  pull  upon  the  bridle,  saying  to 
him,  "Lie  down,  sir!"  The  horse,  after  several 
repetitions  of  the  strokes,  tries  to  lift  up  his  left 
leg ;  but,  as  the  other  is  tied  up,  this  motion  natu- 
rally throws  him  upon  his  knees.  Now  push  him 
gently,  till  he  lies  upon  his  side.  After  he  has  re- 
mained several  minutes  in  this  position,  untie  his 
left  leg,  and  say,  "  Stand  up ! "  After  he  gets  up, 
pat  him  in  the  forehead  and  all  over,  and  lead 
him  about  a  little.  By  repeating  these  lessons  a 
few  times,  the  horse  will  lie  down  at  the  word  of 
command,  by  your  pulling  a  little  upon  the  bridle- 
reins,  and  leaning  against  him.  AVhen  I  practice 
this  upon  a  wild  horse  that  I  have  just  been  break- 
ing, it  is  surprising  to  see  how  quick  he  will  learn 
to  lie  down.  He  will  do  it  in  less  than  one  half 
the  time  which  one  that  has  been  broken  in  the 
common  way  will  be,  in  doing  the  same,  and  very 
often  in  one  fourth. 


TAMING   HORSES.  77 


HOW  TO  TEACH  A  HORSE  TO  COUNT  ANY 
NUMBER. 

Take  the  horse's  left  foot  in  your  right  hand ; 
lift  it  up,  and  strike  it  upon  the  ground,  counting 
one,  at  the  same  time.  Strike  again,  and  count 
two,  and  again,  and  count  three,  &c.  to  ten :  when 
you  pronounce  this  last  number,  raise  your  voice, 
so  that  it  will  be  a  little  more  audible  than  it  was 
in  the  other  numbers,  and  let  the  horse's  foot  fall 
at  the  same  time.  Now  count  fifteen,  or  any  other 
number,  in  the  same  manner ;  always  telling  the 
horse  to  count  ten,  fifteen,  &c.,  and  pronouncing 
the  number  you  tell  in  a  more  audible  manner, 
letting  his  foot  fall  at  the  same  time.  In  a  few 
lessons,  he  will  learn  to  count  at  the  word  of  com- 
mand, and  will  stop  at  any  number,  whenever  you 
raise  your  voice  a  little.  In  the  same  manner,  you 
may  make  him  tell  what  o'clock  it  is,  &c. 


EASY  MODE  OF  FATTENING  A  HORSE  IN  A 
SHORT  TIME. 

The  first  day  you  take  a  lean  horse,  and  wish  to 
put  him  in  a  situation,  as  quick  as  possible,  to  be 


78  TAMING  HORSES. 

able  to  perform  a  journey  or  any  other  fatigue : 
give  him,  in  the  morning,  twelve  ears  of  corn, 
soaked  twenty  four  hours  in  clean  water.  Scatter 
half  a  spoonful  of  fine  salt  over  it ;  then  let  him 
eat  hay  or  fodder  for  one  hour.  At  noon,  give  him 
eight  ears  more,  and  a  little  fodder.  Let  him 
stand  till  five  o'clock,  if  the  weather  is  warm,  and 
then  bathe  him :  feed  him  as  in  the  morning,  and 
give  him  hay,  grass  or  fodder,  not  quite  so  much 
as  he  would  eat,  The  second  day,  bleed  him  by 
one  or  two  slight  incisions  in  the  mouth,  and  give 
him  sixteen  ears  of  corn  in  the  morning,  and  what 
grass  or  fodder  he  will  eat  in  half  an  hour,  and  no 
more  than  four  ears  of  corn  at  noon.  Feed  him  in 
the  evening  as  in  the  morning,  after  having  bathed 
him  as  before,  and  augment  the  quantity  of  fodder. 
If  the  weather  is  cool,  curry  him  and  rub  him  well, 
instead  of  bathing.  Third  day,  give  him  as  much 
corn  as  he  will  eat,  and  fodder  at  discretion  all 
night.  Feed  him  as  above,  at  seven  or  eight 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  give  him  no  hay  or 
fodder,  and  nothing  at  noon:  continue  in  this 
manner,  observing  to  scatter  a  little  salt  upon  his 
corn  every  third  day.  It  will  be  necessary,  after 
the  third  or  fourth  day,  to  ride  him  a  mile  or  two 
twice  a  day.  A  horse  managed  in  this  manner, 
will  be  &tter  at  the  end  of  ten  or  twelve  days,  than 
one  fed  in  the  common  way  will  be  in  a  month. 


TAMING  HORSES.  79 

A  horse  upon  a  journey,  from  September  till  April, 
requires  no  feeding,  from  the  time  you  start  in  the 
morning  till  you  stop  at  night.  He  will  stand  the 
journey  better,  and  lose  less  flesh.  I  have  travelled 
thousands  of  miles  in  the  Mexican  states,  and  have 
always  found  it  to  be  the  case,  with  the  exception 
of  those  hot  countries  bordering  on  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  where  I  fed  a  little  at  noon — started  a  little 
early,  and  rode  late,  on  account  of  the  heat,  which 
is  equally  great  at  all  seasons  of  the  year.  A 
horse  fed  as  I  have  directed  for  fifteen  days,  may 
then  eat  his  corn  without  being  soaked ;  and, 
though  these  directions  are  more  particularly  in- 
tended for  this  country,  and  for  horses  taken  from 
the  prairies,  still,  the  directions  will  hold  good  in 
all  countries  and  all  climates:  allowing  something, 
however,  for  the  different  length  of  days  in  diflfer- 
ent  seasons  and  climates.  When  on  a  journey,  let 
a  horse  drink  as  often  as  he  wishes. 


A  REMEDY  FOR  A  HORSE  THAT  WILL  NOT 
FATTEN,  THOUGH  WELL  FED. 

There  are  some  horses  that  will  not  fatten, 
though  you  feed  them  with  the  greatest  care ;  and, 
at  the  same  time,  they  are  perfectly  healthy  in 
other  respects.     Give  to  such  a  horse  a  pint  of 


80  TAMING  HOESES. 

pretty  strong  decoction  of  the  root  of  poke-weed. 
It  generally  causes  him  to  sweat  copiously,  and  it 
often  happens,  that  one  dose  is  sufficient  to  effect  a 
radical  cure ;  but,  it  may  be  necessary  to  repeat  the 
dose  two  or  three  times :  after  which,  treat  him  as 
you  would  a  horse  taken  out  of  the  prairie  to  bo 
fattened  according  to  the  method  laid  down  in  this 
work. 


TO  PREVENT  A  HORSE'S  BACK  FROM  GET- 
TING SORE,  EVEN   ON  A  LONG  JOURNEY. 

The  best  method  I  ever  found,  to  keep  a  horse's 
back  from  getting  sore,  on  a  long  journey,  is:  in 
the  first  place,  to  procure  a  saddle,  with  a  saddle- 
tree sufficiently  open  as  not  to  come  in  contact  with 
the  spine.  If  it  be  a  Spanish  saddle,  or  one  of  the 
common  saddles  used  in  herding  cattle  in  this 
country,  add  to  it  a  couple  of  cushions  filled  with 
wool  well  picked  and  clean,  considerably  thicker 
at  the  upper  part,  where  they  come  nighest  to  the 
spine,  and  thinner  as  they  descend  upon  the  ribs 
of  the  horse.  Fine  wool  is  far  preferable  to  hair, 
•or  any  other  substance  I  ever  made  use  of.  Put 
under  the  saddle  a  small  saddle-blanket,  which 
should  likewise  be  of  wool.  When  you  stop,  even 
for  a  few  minutes,  unloose  or  slacken  the  girt ,  and 


TAMING   HORSES.  81 

if  you  stop  half  an  hour,  take  off  your  saddle  :  es- 
pecially if  the  weather  be  warm.     When  you  stop 
at  night,  curry  your  horse  well,  and  bathe  his  back 
in  cold  water,  if  the  weather  be  warm.    Give  him 
as  much  corn  and  fodder  as  he  will  eat,  but  always 
give  him  the  fodder  an  hour,  or  at  least  half  an 
hour  before  you  give  him  the  corn.     Arise  early 
in  the  morning,  and  go  yourself,  or  send  a  servant 
of  confidenc,  to  see  that  your  horse  eats  as  much 
as  he  will  before  you  start  on  your  journey;  for 
good  feeding  is  likewise  a  pretty  good  remedy  to 
prevent  a  horse's  back  from  getting  sore,  because 
a  horse  in  good  order  is  less  liable  to  be  hurt  than 
a  lean  one.     Should  your  horse  get  foundered  on 
the  road,  ride  him  or  make  him  walk  for  at  least 
two  hours :  after  which  bleed  him  copiously  in  the 
mouth,  and  continue  your  journey  the  next  day, 
without  fear  of  his  failing ;  for  though  he  should 
still  limp  a  little,  he  will  be  well  by  night.     I  had 
forgot  to  observe,  that  before  you  bleed  him,  you 
must  rub  all  his  legs  well,  and  bathe  them  in  cold 
water.     In  rubbing  them,  it  must  always  be  done 
by   beginning  at  the    upper  part  and   rubbing 
downwards. 


s 


82  TAMING  HORSES. 


HOW  TO  TREAT  A  HORSE  UPON  A  JOUR- 
NEY. 

From  September  to  March,  never  feed  your 
horse  at  noon.  It  is  good  to  start  early  in  the 
morning.  Wlien  you  stop  to  eat  breakfast,  un- 
loose your  girt,  and,  if  the  weather  be  warm,  take 
off  the  saddle.  If  you  stop  for  dinner,  do  the  same. 
Let  your  horse  drink  as  often  as  he  pleases ;  but 
give  him  nothing  to  eat,  till  you  stop  at  night,  or, 
rather,  a  little  before  sun-set.  When  you  stop,  it 
is  good,  if  your  horse  is  warm,  to  let  him  walk 
about  a  few  minutes,  before  you  take  off  the  sad- 
dle. When  he  gets  perfectly  dry,  have  him  cur- 
ried ;  and,'  in  very  warm  weather,  bathe  him. 
Give  him  fodder  for  an  hour  before  you  give  him 
his  corn,  if  you  feed  with  corn ;  but  if  with  oats  or 
barley,  you  may  give  either  to  him  at  the  same 
time  that  you  give  him  his  hay.  When  you  start 
in  the  morniug,  go  on  rather  moderately  till  ten  or 
eleven  o'clock.  Then  you  may  go  a  little  faster, 
and  increase  your  pace  in  the  afternoon.  When 
you  stop  at  night,  give  your  horse  as  much  corn 
and  fodder  as  he  will  eat.     Let  hay  or  fodder  re- 


TAMING   HORSES.  83 

main  in  the  rack  all  night,  but  not  the  corn.  Give 
him  twenty  or  thirty  ears,  if  he  will  eat  so  many, 
before  you  start.  From  April  to  the  first  of  Sep- 
tember, feed  a  little  at  noon.  Clean  the  mud  out 
of  your  horse's  hoofs,  every  now  and  then ;  that  is, 
every  morning,  or  second  morning;  and,  if  you 
perceive  that  your  horse  often  gets  balls  of  hard, 
dry  earth  in  them,  rub  soft  soap  upon  the  inside 
of  them,  and  that  will  prevent  the  mud  from 
sticking. 


A   HORSE   THAT  IS   APT   TO   STUMBLE 
THROUGH  CARELESSNESS. 

Feed  well :  that,  in  the  first  place,  will  give  him 
strength  to  stand  upon  his  feet  firmly,  and  be  able 
to  support  his  rider;  and,  should  he  still  stumble, 
ride  him  with  a  Spanish  bridle,  and  hold  the  reins 
rather  short,  and  check  him  whenever  he  stumbles. 
This  is,  perhaps,  the  most  efficacious  remedy  known. 
Some  horses  are  so  constructed  that  they  are  natu- 
ral stumblers.  It  is  very  difficult  to  cure  such  a 
one  of  this  defect,  though  by  using  him  some  time 
to  the  S];)anish  bit,  he  will  stumble  less. 


84  TAMING   HORSES. 


HOW  TO  BREAK  A  MULE  BY  THE  SECRET: 

AND  THE  DIFFERENCE  THERE  IS  TO  BE 

OBSERVED  BETWEEN  A  MULE  AND 

A  HORSE. 

A  mule  seems  to  belong  to  all  three  classes  of 
horses,  as  to  vices :  it  will  run  at  a  man,  bite,  and 
strike  at  him,  like  a  horse  of  the  first  class ;  it  will 
again  fly  from  him,  like  one  of  the  second  class ; 
and  kick,  and  appear  to  be  afraid  of  every  thing, 
like  a  horse  of  the  third  class;  and  yet  I  have 
broken  two  or  three  in  a  day ;  and  one  day,  I 
broke  four  in  ten  hours  and  a  half,  so  that  a  man 
might  handle  their  feet,  and  take  them  up  with  the 
greatest  ease;  saddle  and  bridle  them,  and  put 
two  or  three  boys  upon  them,  and  ride  them 
through  the  streets  of  a  populous  town.  This  I 
did,  in  the  city  of  Jalapa,  seventy-five  miles  above 
the  city  of  Vera  Cruz,  on  the  road  to  Mexico. 
But  this  may  be  looked  upon  as  a  rare  case ;  for  it 
generally  takes  from  six  to  eight  hours  to  break  a 
mule,  so  as  to  ride  him  with  safety.  Now,  a  man 
may  know  how  to  break  a  horse,  according  to  the 
rules  I  have  here  laid  down,  and  completely  fail 


TAMING   HORSES.  85 

in  his  first  attempts  upon   a  mule.     In  the  first 
place,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  have  a  halter 
upon  the  mule,  of  that  kind  called  a  jaguima,  in 
the  Spanish  language.     Now,  when  I  draw  nigh 
them,  as  is  indicated  in  the  manner  which  I  follow 
in  coming  up  to  a  wild  horse,  for  the  first  time,  I 
always  take  up  the  rope,  which  is  tied  to  the  head- 
stall of  the  halter,  and  then  approach  with  much 
precaution,  but  without  any  signs  of  fear,  &c.,  &c. 
Now,  as  I  write  for  the  timid,  as  well  as  for  the 
courageous  and   intrepid,  and  as  I  look   upon  a 
mule  as  a  most  treacherous  animal,  I  will  here  state, 
that  all  these  precautions  may  be  rendered  unneces- 
sary, by  making  a  pen  just  big  enough  to  put  the 
mule  in,  and  so  high  that  it  cannot  jump  over  it; 
and  let  the  bars  be  far  enough  apart  to  pass  your 
hand  between  them  and  handle  the  mule.     The 
pen  must  be  uiade  in  such  a  manner  that  you  can 
go  around  it  on  each  side,  as  well  behind  as  before, 
and  be  able  to  get  upon  it  so  as  to  saddle  the  mule, 
when  you  find  it  sufficiently  gentle  to  proceed  thus 
far.     Then  continue  the  operation  as  with  a  horse, 
but  with  this  difference:  you  ought  always  to  load 
the  mule  with  bags  of  sand^  or  the  like,  and  exer- 
cise it  before  you  ride  it.     A  weight  of  about  two 
hundred  pounds  is  not  too  much  for  the  first  time. 
As  for  any  thing  further,  do  as  you  would  with  a 
horse,  &c. 


86  TAMING  H0RSE8. 

The  same  pen  you  make  for  one  mule,  may  serve 
for  others  which  are  of  about  the  same  size ;  and 
thus  you  may  break,  in  a  very  few  dpvys,  a  great 
many  mules,  so  as  to  go  immediately  to  work  with 
them,  without  laming  them  by  blows  and  rough 
usage,  which  is  often  the  cause  of  their  being  re- 
fractory the  rest  of  their  lives.  I  have  broken  a 
sufficient  number  of  them  to  bear  witness  of  the 
truth  of  this  assertion.  All  those  persons  who 
may  have  learnt  any  part  of  my  secret  of  breaking 
horses  in  a  few  hours,  have  remained  perfectly  si- 
lent with  regard  to  mules,  though  they  have  un- 
doubtedly tried  their  skill  upon  them,  but  in-  vain. 


HOW  THALES,  one   of  the   seven  wise   men   of 

GREECE,    CORRECTED    A    MULE    OF    THE 

HABIT     OF     LYING     DOWN     EVERY 

TIME     IT    PASSED    A     CERTAIN 

RIVER. 

Thales,  one  of  the  seven  wise  men  of  Greece, 
had  a  mule  which  used  to  carry  loads  of  salt  from 
one  place  to  another,  in  consequence  of  which,  it 
had  to  cross  a  very  wide,  but  rather  shallow  river. 
It  so  happened  one  day,  that  whilst  it  was  cross- 
ing the  river,  being  heavily  loaded,  it  stumbled 
and  fell  down,  and   remained  some  time   in  the 


TAMING   HORSES.  87 

middle  of  tlie  water,  which  soon  melted  and  washed 
away  the  salt  that  was  in  the  bags.     The  animal, 
finding  itself  thus  alleviated  and  discharged  of  its 
load,  was  able  to  jump  up  and  pursue  its  journey 
without  fatigue:  from  thence  it  concluded  that  the 
said  fall  and  immersion  in  the  river  had  been  fa- 
vorable and  beneficial  to  it ;  therefore,  when  it  had 
to  cross  the  river  a  second  time  with  a  load  of  salt, 
it  stopped  in  the  midst  of  the  river,  and  plunged 
in  such  a  manner  that  its  load  soon  melted  away ; 
and  this  hapj^ened  every  time  it  passed  the  stream  ; 
nor  was  it  possible  to  break  it  of  this  trick,  either 
by  words  or  blows,  though  vigorously  and  well- 
applied,     At  last,  the  wise  Thales  bethought  him- 
self of  this  stratagem :     He  loaded  the  beast  with 
a  very  bulky  load  of  sponge ;  the  mule,  according 
to  custom,  plunged  into  the  water,  and  remained 
some  time;  but,  when  it  got  up,  it  could  hardly 
stagger  under  the  weight  of  its  load,  and,  instead 
of  relief,  found  itself  oppressed  to  such  a  degree, 
that  it  ever  after  crossed  the  river  with  the  greatest 
care,  so  as  not  to  fall  in  the  water  and  increase  the 
weight  of  its  load. 


88  TAMING  HORSES. 


HOW   TO    MAKE   A   DULL   HORSE   APPEAR 

METTLESOME  AND  FULL  OF  FIRE   FOR 

A  SHORT   TIME. 

Take  of  red  pepper,  of  the  strongest  kind,  a 
small  handful.  Pound  it  fine,  and  add  half  a 
spoonful  of  vinegar  to  it.  Put  the  whole  into  a 
small  bag,  made  of  linen,  and  tie  it  to  that  part  of 
the  crupper  which  goes  immediately  under  the 
horse's  tail.  Buckle  the  crupper  rather  short,  so 
that  it  will  press  upon  the  little  bag,  as  the  horse 
trots  off.  The  juice  will  flow  out  of  the  bag,  and 
come  in  contact  with  a  certain  part,  which  will 
immediately  have  the  most  wonderful  effect  upon 
the  horse  imaginable.  He  will  champ  his  bit,  if 
you  hold  him  in,  and  appear  to  be  all  fire  and 
mettle.  When  you  ride  off,  he  will  hold  up  his 
head,  stick  his  ears  forward,  lift  his  feet  with 
agility,  and  caper  about  like  a  young  colt.  In  a 
word,  he  will  act  the  part  of  a  fiery,  mettlesome 
horse,  full  of  vigor  and  spiritedness. 


TAMING  HORSES.  89 


THAT   PART,   OR    THOSE   PARTS   OF    THE 
MEXICAN  STATES  IN  WHICH  THE  BEST 
RACE  OF    HORSES   IS  TO  BE    FOUND, 
AND     SOME     OF    THEIR     QUALI- 
TIES. 

The  horses  that  are  brought  to  Louisiana,  under 
the  name  of  Spanish  horses,  generally  come  from 
Caahuila,  Tamaulipas,  and  Neuvo  Leon.  They 
are  of  a  pretty  good  size,  and  commonly  of  a  vi- 
cious disposition.  They  are  very  much  affected  by 
the  change  of  climate.  They  are  likewise  used  to 
a  better  kind  of  grass  than  that  growing  in  Loui- 
siana. They  are  much  larger  than  the  Creole 
horses,  and  when  acclimated  live  longer.  When 
mixed  with  the  Creole  horses,  they  form  a  good 
race,  far  better  than  the  Creole  horses.  Planters 
generally  suffer  great  loss  in  purchasing  northern 
horses,  which  are  so  much  affected  by  the  climate 
that  hundreds  of  them  die  every  year.  A  better 
and  more  serviceable  race  of  horses  may  be  raised, 
by  procuring  northern  mares,  and  putting  them 
with  Creole  studs.  They  will  not  only  stand  the 
climate  as  well  as  the  Creole  horses,  but  will  render 
8^ 


90  '  TAMING  HORSES. 

more  service  than  the  northern  horses,  and  do  not 
require  half  so  much  care.  But  a  race  of  horses, 
far  superior  to  either  of  the  above-mentioned,  can 
be  raised,  by  procuring  some  of  those  beautiful 
Andalusian  studs,  and  putting  them  with  northern 
mares.  This  would  be  really  improving  the  race 
of  horses  in  this  country.  .1  would  likewise  advise 
the  planters  to  procure  both  mares  and  horses,  and 
raise  at  least  some  elegant  riding  horses  from  this 
Andalusian  race.  I  have  more  than  once  mounted 
upon  a  fiery  Arabian  steed,  that  hardly  seemed  to 
touch  the  ground,  as  he  bounded  over  the  plains — 
I  have  likewise  ridden  upon  some  of  the  finest 
horses  raised  in  New  Spain — and,  for  my  life,  I 
have  found  it  difficult  to  distinguish  the  difference 
between  the  former  and  the  latter.  They  are  of 
the  same  size — their  shape  is  the  same — their  long, 
floating  mane  the  same— their  beautiful,  small  and 
well  turned  hoof  the  same,  and  so  hard  that  they 
travel  over  vastly  high  and  rocky  mountains,  with- 
out being  shod.  Add  to  this,  their  hardiness  to 
undergo  fatigue.  I  have  ridden  one  of  these  horses 
for  twenty  days  together,  going  from  fifty  to  fifty- 
five  miles  a  day,  and  frequently  changing  from  a 
cold  to  a  hot  climate,  and  vice  versa ;  for  in  New 
Spain,  climates  are  hot  or  cold,  according  as  they 
are  liigher  or  lower ;  and  this  I  have  done,  with- 
out my  horse  ever  appearing  in  the  least  jaded,  or 


TAMING  HORSES.  91 

the  leaner  for  it.  The  rider  himself  feels  much 
more  at  his  ease,  than  he  does  when  riding  a  heavy, 
clumsy  horse,  that  moves  along  like  a  camel,  and 
is  remarkable  only  on  account  of  his  unwieldliness, 
and  is,  as  a  Kentuckian  would  say,  "waste  tim- 
ber ! "  Besides,  the  Andalusian  or  Arabian  breed 
are  the  most  elegant  easy-going  horses  in  the  world. 
They  have  no  resemblance  to  those  Spanish  horses 
which  are  brought' to  this  country. 

Now,  as  I  have  mentioned  some  of  their  quali- 
ties, I  will  inform  the  amateur  where  he  can  best 
procure  them.  In  going  by  land  to  the  Mexican 
states,  the  first  horses  of  this  kind  to  be  met  with, 
are  raised  upon  the  Hacienda  del  Xaral,  (pro- 
nounced Haral,  and  often  written  with  a  J,  Jaral,) 
.  two  hundred  and  sixty  miles  this  side  of  the  city 
of  San  Louis  Potosi,  in  the  state  of  the  same  name. 
Still  further  on,  in  the  states  of  Guanajuato  and 
Quenetaro,  the  same  race  of  horses  is  to  be  found, 
and  likewise  in  other  places:  but,  those  I  here 
mention,  would  be  by  far  the  most  convenient  places 
to  procure  them,  as  they  are  not  so  far  distant  as 
others  from  Tampico,  should  one  wish  to  bring 
them  by  sea  to  New  Orleans,  nor  so  far  from  this 
state,  should  one  prefer  bringing  them  by  land. 
All  of  these  fine  horses,  I  here  mention,  are  raised 
upon  the  table-lands,  where  excessive  heat  is  never 
felt :  and  yet,  if  you  take  them  down  to  the  hot 


92  TAMING  HORSES. 

countries  upon  the  coast,  they  will,  even  there,  do 
double  the  service  of  one  of  the  hot-country  horses, 
in  their  own  climate.  I  sjoeak  from  experience, 
for  I  have  tried  both.  They  likewise  possess  ano- 
ther good  quality,  which  is  that  of  being  the  most 
sure-footed  animals  in  the  world,  of  the  horse 
kind ;  not  even  excepting  a  mule. 


CAUTION   TO   BE   OBSERVED,   IN    CUTTING 

OR  PARING  THE  HOOFS  OF  YOUR  HORSES 

IN  THIS  COUNTRY,  WHERE   HORSES 

GENERALLY  GO  UNSHOD. 

When  you  cut  or  pare  the  hoofs  of  your  horses, 
be  careful  to  cut  them  so  as  not  to  let  that  soft 
part,  which  is  in  the  middle  of  the  foot,  commonly 
called  the  frog,  rise  above  the  outside  of  the  hoof; 
for  if  you  do,  it  will  undoubtedly  make  the  horse 
limp.  When  it  is  too  big,  it  must  be  cut  off.  No- 
body will  do  it  so  efficaciously  as  a  blacksmith, 
and  it  is  better  to  pay  such  a  one  some  trifle  than 
to  lame  your  horse. 


TAMING  HORSES.  93 


CAUTION   TO   THOSE   WHO   RAISE   HORSES 
OR    MULES. 

He  that  would  raise  a  good  stock  of  horses  or 
mules,  must  have  good  pasture-ground,  and  take 
special  care  that  the  colts  do  not  want  for  food  in 
the  winter  time,  and  more  particularly  the  first 
two  years.  More  depends  upon  the  first  two  years, 
than  any  thing  that  can  be  done  afterwards ;  for  a 
colt  that  is  badly  fed,  and  allowed  to  suffer  hunger 
and  cold  while  he  is  young,  will  rarely  or  never 
make  a  large  horse ;  whereas,  if  he  has  been  well 
fed  for  two  years,  he  is  more  able  to  support  hard- 
ship afterwards,  though  I  by  no  means  advise  any 
one  to  neglect  him  at  any  time. 


TO   ACCUSTOM    A   HORSE   TO   STAY   IN   A 
PLACE. 

If  you  buy  a  horse  in  one  part  of  the  country, 
and  take  him  to  another,  and  the  horse  returns  of 
his  own  accord  to  his  former  abode,  cause  another 
person,  (if  the  person  be  his  old  master,  so  much 


9'4  TAMING   HOKSES. 

the  better,)  to  take  your  horse  and  tie  him  up,  and 
whip  him  severely,  and  let  him  stand  all  night 
without  eating  any  thing  whatever.  In  the  morn- 
ing, let  the  same  person  come  again  to  the  horse, 
and  give  him  another  good  discipline :  immediately 
afterwards,  go  to  your  horse,  mount  him,  and  ride 
him  back  to  the  place  where  you  wish  him  to  stay, 
and  give  him  some  salt,  and  plenty  to  eat.  Keep 
him  inclosed  for  two  days,  well  fed,  handled  and 
caressed.  Then  cause  him  to  be  taken  to  his  first 
place  of  residence.  Let  any  person  catch  him,  tie 
him  up,  and  whip  him,  as  at  first,  leaving  him  tied 
all  night,  without  eating.  Go  to  him,  get  upon 
him,  and  ride  him  home ;  caress  and  feed  him  well, 
and  give  him  a  little  salt.  Let  him  loose,  at  the 
end  of  two  days,  upon  trial ;  if  he  does  not  return 
at  the  end  of  four  days,  have  him  caught,  caressed 
and  fed,  and  salt  given  to  him,  and  then  let  loose. 
But  should  he  return  a  third  time,  which  would 
be  a  rare  case,  repeat  the  discipline.  I  seldom  or 
never  khew  this  remedy  to  fail. 


TO   MAKE   A    GENTLE   HORSE,   NOT    USED 
TO  A  CARRIAGE  GO  IN    IT. 

Harness  your  horse:  handle  him  in  the  forehead 
a  few  minutes.     Let  some  one  lead  him,  whilst  you 


TAMING  HORSES.  95 

hold  the  reins  and  go  behind  hira  with  a  whip  in 
your  hand.     Make  him  advance,  by  speaking  to 
him;  then  speak  to  him  to  stop,  at  the  same  time 
you  pull  upon  the  reins.     Exercise  him  a  few  mi- 
nutes in  this  way,  then  handle  him  again  in  the 
forehead.     Make  him  advance:  let  the  person  who 
led  him  now  go  before,  at  a  little  distance,  then 
further  off,  till  at  last  the  horse  will  suffer  himself 
to  be  driven,  without  any  one  being  before  him. 
Now  let  him  drag  a  small  piece  of  wood,  with  some 
one  going  before  as  at  first,  till  he  suffers  himself 
to  be  driven  without.     Exercise  him  a  few  minutes, 
in  this  way,  then  with  something  larger,  that  will 
make  considerable  noise.     I  have  always  made  use 
of  a  barrel,  fixed  so  that  it  would  roll  round,  and 
in  which  I  put  a  quantity  of  round  stones ;  but,  as 
stones  are  difficult  to  be  procured  in  this  part  of 
the  country,  their  place  can  be  supplied  by  some- 
thing else.     Give  the  horse  a  good  exercise,  in  the 
same  gentle,  progressive  manner  as  above,  till  he 
will  suffer  himself  to  be  driven  with  this  last  load 
in  every  direction,  without  the  necessity  of  any  one 
going  before  him.     Then   put  him  to  an   empty 
cart,  and  continue  on,  in  the  same  progressive 
manner.     Never  pull  upon  the  reins,  to  stop  your 
horse,  without  speaking  to  him.     I  have  never  yet 
failed  of  success  in  putting  a  horse  to  a  coach  or 
gig;  but,  it  is  certain,  that  there  are  some  horses 


96  tamin:g  horses. 

so  fiery  and  vicious,  that  few  persons  would  have 
patience  enough  to  succeed.  I  here  speak  of  those 
horses  that  have  contracted  vicious  habits,  after 
having  been  broken  for  a  long  time.  Never  fail 
to  give  your  horse  a  very  small  quantity  of  salt, 
after  having  exercised  him  to  go  in  a  cart  or  gig. 
Do  not  give  him  more  than  a  thimble-full  at  a 
time.  He  will  generally  go  well  the  first  day ;  but 
he  ought  to  have  a  few  hours  exercise  each  day, 
for  a  few  days. 


A   HORSE  THAT   STOPS,  AND    REFUSES   TO 
GO,  WHEN   IN  A   CARRIAGE. 

If  a  horse  stops,  and  refuses  to  go,  or  runs  back, 
go  up  before  him,  handle  hira  in  the  forehead  and 
coax  him.  If  he  is  not  an  old  offender,  he  will  go 
off  in  about  fifteen  minutes.  If  he  has  been  spoiled 
for  a  long  time,  it  requires  more  patience  to  cor- 
rect him. 


TAMING  HORSES.  97 


A  MODE  OF  BREAKING  WILD  HORSES,  VERY 

DIFFERENT    FROM    THAT   DISCOVERED 

BY  ME. 

I  have  seen  a  wild  horse  taken  and  shut  up  in  a 
stable.  The  man  who  was  to  gentle  or  tame  him, 
took  a  whip,  such  as  a  coachman  uses,  and  went  in 
to  him ;  and,  as  the  horse  was  frightened,  and  ran 
away  from  him,  he  fell  to  whipping  him  most  un- 
mercifully. At  the  end  of  half  an  hour,  the  horse, 
seeing  it  impossible  to  escape  the  whip  by  running 
away,  advanced  towards  the  man  who  had  been 
his  persecutor.  The  man  threw  down  his  whip, 
and  began  to  handle  him ;  but  the  horse,  at  the 
end  of  a  few  minutes,  began  to  be  refractory,  when 
he  took  it  up  again,  and  repeated  the  lesson  with 
so  much  severity,  that  the  horse  soon  came  back 
to  him.  This  he  continued  for  some  time ;  when, 
at  the  end  of  about  two  hours,  he  saddled  the  horse 
and  drove  him  about  with  his  whip,  making  him 
come  up  to  him  every  now  and  then,  till  at  last  he 
mounted  him  and  rode  off  very  well.  I  observed, 
that  the  horse  frequently  trembled,  when  he  went 
to  get  on  him,  notwithstanding  he  rode  him  off 
9  G 


98  TAMING   HOKSES. 

pretty  well ;  he  appeared  to  be  afraid  of  many  ob- 
jects he  met  with,  and  was  far,  very  far  from  being 
that  gentle,  docile  animal,  tamed  by  the  simple, 
natural  means  made  use  of  in  my  method  of  break- 
ing horses.  Besides  this,  those  horses  do  not  re- 
main gentle.     I  speak  from  experience. 


ANOTHER   MODE  OF   BREAKING   A    HORSE 
FOR   A  FEW  HOURS. 

Stop  up  the  horse's  ears,  so  that  he  cannot  hear 
at  all,  and  you  can  very  soon  handle  him  as  if  he 
were  a  gentle  horse;  but,  when  you  unstop  his 
ears,  he  will  become  as  wild  as  ever.  If  you  per- 
form this  two  or  three  times  upon  the  same  horse, 
it  will  have  no  effect  upon  him  at  last. 


ADVICE   TO    FARMERS,   CONCERNING    THE 
GENTLING  OF  YOUNG  COWS. 

Though  I  did  not  intend  to  say  any  thing  about 
horned  cattle,  it  may  not,  perhaps,  be  amiss  to  re- 
late what  I  have  experienced  and  been  eye-witness 
to,  in  the  state  of  Louisiana,  concerning  the  gen- 
tling of  young  cows,  since  I  discovered  the  secret 


TAMING  HORSES.  99 

of  breaking  horses  in  a  few  hours.  AVhenever  I 
have  had  a  heifer  or  young  cow  to  gentle,  (it  must 
be  observed,  that  they  are  much  wilder  here  than 
in  the  northern  states,)  I  have  made  it  a  practice 
to  have  them  tied  by  the  horns  to  a  post,  and  have 
made  a  servant  begin  to  handle  them  well  all  over, 
speaking  to  them  uninterruptedly;  and  this  he  did 
for  two  or  three  mornings,  before  milking  them, 
always  finishing  by  giving  them  a  little  salt.  At 
the  end  of  three  or  four  days,  they  never  failed  of 
becoming  gentle,  and  could  be  milked  without 
being  tied.  Though  I  have  seen  by  experience, 
that  horned  cattle,  especially  bulls,  are  much  less 
sensible  to  the  touch  than  horses,  a  part  of  which 
may  possibly  be  owing  to  the  thickness  of  their 
skin,  yet  even  with  them  I  have  done  much.  Let 
any  one  who  will,  do  more. 


THE   ASTONISHING   MANNER   IN   WHICH   I 
TAMED  OR  GENTLED   A  WILD  DEER. 

The  second  day  after  my  arrival  in  the  town  of 
Tantoyuca,  I  presented  myself  to  the  first  Alcade, 
or  chief  magistrate  of  the  town.  I  showed  him  the 
documents  I  had  brought  Avith  me  from  the  Presi- 
dent and  other  authorities,  and  expressed  a  desire 
of  putting  in  practice,  in  that  town  the  ability  I 


100  TAMING  HORSES. 

possessed  of  taming,  in  a  few  hours,  wild  horses. 
The  Alcade  seemed  to  be  of  a  morose,  surly  tem- 
per, and  answered  me,  saying,  he  did  not  believe 
in  witches,  nor  miracles,  and  though  he  said  he  re- 
spected the  President's  document,  yet  he  believed 
he  had  been  imposed  upon,  &c.  He  appeared  not 
even  disposed  to  give  me  a  trial.  He  had  a 
brother-in-law,  a  Spaniard,  a  genteel,  wealthy  gen- 
tleman: this  man  was  very  much  disposed  to  fa- 
vor my  undertaking.  He  possessed  numerous 
herds  of  wild  horses.  He  gave  me  one  of  his 
houses  to  live  in,  whilst  I  staid  in  the  town,  for  I 
had  my  wife  and  family  with  me.  About  six 
o'clock,  (this  was  in  Febuary,  1826,)  whilst  we 
were  all  sitting  at  the  door,  taking  the  air,  a  wild 
deer  came  bouncing  by  us.  It  had  been  chased 
out  of  the  woods  by  a  leopard  or  a  tiger.  The 
large  spotted  tiger  and  leopard  are  both  natives  of 
this  country,  and  are  often  seen  within  half  a  mile 
of  the  towns  in  the  Guanteca.  The  deer  ran  down 
opposite  the  Alcade's  house :  there,  a  man  threw  a 
rope  upon  it,  and  caught  it.  I  immediately  went 
to  the  man,  bought  the  deer,  and  told  him  to  tie  it 
and  bring  it  up  to  my  house.  He  accordingly  did 
so.  I  untied  it,  and  shut  it  up  in  a  room,  where  it 
remained  all  night.  The  next  morning,  before 
sun-rise,  I  went  to  it,  and  began  the  operation  of 
gentling;  and,  at  nine  o'clock,  I  made  it  follow 


TAMING  HORSES.  101 

me  to  the  Alcade's,  accompanied  by  his  brother- 
in-law.  The  Alcade  was  so  delighted  at  seeing 
the  deer  follow  me  into  his  house,  that  he  gave  me 
every  facility  to  perform  in  that  town,  which  I 
did,  and  brought  away  a  fine  purse  of  doubloons, 
which  he  and  his  friends  gave  me,  as  a  gratifica- 
tion for  having  broken  a  wild  horse  in  their  pre- 
sence. 

This  deer  having  been  shut  up  all  night,  as  I 
have  observed,  I  got  up  early  in  the  morning,  and 
went  to  the  room  in  which  it  was  confined.  As  I 
opened  the  door,  it  appeared  almost  frightened  to 
death.  I  shut  the  door,  however,  and  remained 
perfectly  still  for  some  time.  The  deer  had  retired 
to  the  further  corner  of  the  room,  which  was  very 
small:  it  had  turned  round,  and  was  looking  at 
me.  I  kept  my  position,  with  my  left  hand 
stretched  out,  for  half  an  hour  before  I  began  to 
move,  as  slow  as  possible,  towards  the  deer,  which 
kept  its  eyes  fixed  steadfast  upon  me,  and  never 
stirred,  till  I  got  nigh  enough  to  touch  it.  I 
moved  my  hand  for  some  time,  before  I  dared  to 
let  it  fall  upon  its  head :  at  last,  I  ventured  to  let 
the  end  of  my  fingers  fall,  as  lightly  as  jDossible, 
upon  its  head ;  it  trembled  and  flinched  a  little ;  I 
repeated,  with  the  greatest  rapidity,  those  very 
light  touches,  and  in  less  than  five  minutes,  as  I 
suppose,  (for  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  look  at 
9* 


102  TAMING   HORSES. 

my  watch  without  frightening  the  deer,)  I  began 
to  rub  it  upon  the  head ;  and,  in  less  than  half  an 
hour,  I  took  its  head  under  my  arm,  and  handled 
it  all  over  in  two  hours  from  the  time  I  went  in  to 
it.  I  made  my  servant  and  several  others  go  to  it, 
and  stroke  and  rub  it.  It  was  a  full-grown  deer, 
and  not  less  than  two  or  three  years  old.  The 
mode  of  taming  it  consisted  in  stroking  it  gently, 
and  taking  its  head  in  my  arms,  &c.  I  relate  this 
circumstance  more  to  prove  the  astonishing  effect 
the  tact  has  upon  some  animals,  and  to  point  out 
the  different  ways  of  applying  it,  than  from  any 
benefit  resulting  from  taming  this  latter  kind  of 
animals. 


A  REMEDY  FOR  AN  OX  THAT  LIES  DOWN, 
AND  WONT  GET  UP. 

I  have  seen  some  oxen  lie  down,  when  put  before 
the  plough,  and  show  so  much  obstinacy,  that  they 
suffered  themselves  to  be  whipped  most  unmerci- 
fully, and  even  burnt,  without  showing  signs  of 
obedience.  If  an  ox  lies  down  and  will  not  get 
up,  either  by  gentle  or  rough  means,  tie  him  in 
such  a  manner  that  it  will  be  impossible  for  him  to 
get  up.  Let  him  remain  in  this  situation,  without 
eating  or  drinking,  for  ten  hours  :  then  untie  him, 


TAMING  HORSES.  103 

and  he  will  not  fail  to  go  off.  Let  him  go  two  or 
three  rounds,  and  then  feed  him  well.  It  is  not 
common  for  him  to  return  to  his  former  offence, 
unless  he  has  been  an  old  offender  ;  in  which  case, 
let  him  remain  tied  two  or  three  hours  longer,  and 
he  will  not  fail  of  leaving  off  his  old  tricks. 


A   CURIOUS  METHOD    OF   TEACHING   TUR- 

KIES    TO    DANCE    AT    THE    SOUND    OF 

THE     TRIANGLE    OR    ANY     OTHER 

MUSICAL   INSTRUMENT. 

It  is  a  well  known  fact,  that  in  the  East  Indies, 
camels  are  often  tauoht  to  dance  at  the  sound  of 
music.     I  knew  that  this  was  done  by  putting  them 
upon  hot  floors,  &c.     They  are  afterwards  exhibi- 
ted at  public  spectacles.     I  never  had  learned  the 
precise  course  pursued ;  yet  notwithstanding,  I  un- 
dertook to  teach  a  dog  to  dance.     I  heated  large 
pieces  of  tin  plate,  put  the  dog  upon  them,  and  at 
the  same  time  struck  upon  a  triangle,  that  being 
the  easiest  instrument  I  knew  of     I  tried  this 
several  times,  without  any  other  success  than  hav- 
ing most  miserably  burnt  two  or  three  dogs'  feet  in 
the  experiments.     At  last,  in  one  of  my  chemical 
operations,  (for  I  was  then  teaching  chemistry  to 
a  few  young  gentleman,)  I  made  use  of  the  sand- 


104  TAMING  HORSES. 

bath.     It  immediately  occurred   to  me,  that  in 
teaching  an  animal  to  dance  by  means  of  heat,  the 
heat  ought  to  be  tempered  by  something  similar  to 
the  sand-bath.     I  therefore  determined  to  make  a 
new  trial ;  and,  having  no  dog  at  hand,  I  made 
choice  of  four  good-looking  turkies,  two  males  and 
two  females.     I  made  two  cages ;  the  bottom  of  one 
was  made  of  tin  plates,  upon  which  I  strewed  a 
certain  portion  of  fine  sand.     Then  I  put  fire  under 
the  cage.     The  turkies  were  in  the  other  cage, 
which  had  a  door  of  communication  with  the  one 
having  a  tin  bottom.     When  I  thought  the  bottom 
of  the  cage  sufficiently  hot,  I  drove  the  turkies 
from  the  one  to  the  other,  shut  the  door,  and  be- 
gan to  strike  rapidly  and  loudly  upon  the  triangle, 
which  I  held  in  my  hand.     The  sensation  of  heat 
which  the  turkies  experienced,  caused  them  to  skip 
about  as  if  they  had  been  possessed  with  some  evil 
spirit.     After  letting  them  continue  their  exercise 
for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  or  so,  I  opened  the  door 
and  drove  them  back  into  the  first  cage,  and  at 
the  same  time  stopped  playing.     Then  I  fed  them 
vvell,  and  lastly  turned   them  loose  in  the  yard. 
The  next  day,  I  made  them  go  through  the  same 
ceremony,  before  I  gave  them  any  thing  to  eat, 
and  so  on,  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  or  more  every 
day,  for  ten  days ;  at  the  end  of  which,  I  struck 
upon  the  triangle  before  I  turned  them  into  the 


TAMING   HORSES.  105 

hot  cage.  Only  one  of  them,  more  docile  than  the 
other  three,  began  to  jump  about  a  little.  The 
others,  it  is  true,  looked  up,  and  seemed,  as  it  were, 
astonished.  I  was  then  fully  convinced  that  they 
would  all  shortly  learn  to  dance,  if  I  continued  the 
same  method  of  giving  them  lessons.  I  accord- 
ingly continued  on,  in  the  same  manner,  for  twenty 
days  more ;  at  the  end  of  which,  I  let  them  loose 
one  day  in  a  room,  and  began  to  strike  violently 
upon  the  triangle.  All  four  of  the  turkies  began 
to  skip  and  run  about,  keeping  pretty  close  to  one 
another,  and  changing  every  minute  their  position. 
It  was  the  most  ludicrous,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
entertaining  sight  imaginable.  The  impression 
which  the  sound  of  the  triangle  had  made  upon 
them,  on  account  of  their  having  felt  the  heat  at 
the  bottom  of  the  cage,  every  time  they  had  heard 
that  music,  became  a  lasting  one ;  and  they  would 
begin  to  dance,  ever  after,  though  in  the  yard 
amidst  the  other  turkies,  whenever  they  heard  the 
sound  of  that  instrument.  They  generally  separa- 
ted themselves  from  the  others,  and  run  together. 
They  may  be  taught  with  any  other  instrument,  as 
well  as  with  the  triangle.  It  will  take  much 
longer  to  teach  a  dog,  than  a  turkey.  The  reason 
is,  as  I  suppose,  that  the  dog  is  not  so  easily  de- 
ceived. The  only  difficulty  attending  this  mode 
of  teaching  turkies  to  dance  is,  to  keep  your  tin 


106  TAMING   HORSES. 

plates  neither  too  hot  nor  too  cold ;  for,  if  too  hot, 
they  will  get  their  feet  burnt ;  and,  if  too  cold,  they 
won't  dance.  I  sold  the  four  above-mentioned 
turkies,  for  four  doubloons,  to  a  man  who  went 
about  exliibiting  various  curiosities. 


REMEDY  FOR  THE  GRIPES,  OR  COLIC. 

Give  to  the  horse  a  pint  of  port  or  claret  wine, 
with  a  small  nutmeg  grated  fine,  and  half  a  spoon- 
ful of  powdered  ginger,  all  well  mixed,  and  given 
rather  hotter  than  lukewarm.  The  best  method  is 
to  get  ready  some  boiling  hot  water,  then  put  the 
nutmeg  and  ginger,  together  with  a  little  loaf  sugar, 
into  a  vessel,  and  pour  the  hot  water  upon  them, 
and  cover  it  for  three  minutes  ;  then  add  the  wine, 
and  give  this  dose  to  the  horse  pretty  warm.  It 
generally  gives  relief  in  a  short  time.  My  inten- 
tion is  not  to  say  any  thing  upon  farriery,  except 
two  or  three  of  the  most  common  diseases  to  which 
horses  are  subject.  Much  has  already  been  writ- 
ten by  able  professors. 


TAMING   HORSES.  10 1 


CONCERNING  THE  BOTS. 

In  twenty-seven  years  time,  I  never  had  a  horse 
die  of  the  bots.  I  believe  that  almost  every  body 
is  convinced  that  the  bots  come  from  the  eiro-s  or 
knits,  which  are  deposited  upon  the  horse's  hair, 
by  that  troublesome  fly,  resembling  a  bee  in  color. 
This  has  always  been  my  opinion.  Now,  as  it  is 
generally  known,  that  a  horse  that  has  the  bots, 
does  not  appear  to  suffer,  till  he  is  too  far  gone  to 
be  cured,  to  prevent  the  fatal  effects  of  this  disease, 
I  have  made  it  a  practice  to  give  my  horses,  in  the 
month  of  )September,  tlie  following  remedy :  Of 
olive  oil,  honey  and  lemon-juice,  each,  two  ounces 
and  a  half:  mix  and  give  these  to  the  horse;  the 
next  day  purge  well.  Whether  a  horse  be  inclined 
or  not  to  have  the  bots,  this  remedy  will  do  him  no 
hurt. 


THE   BLIND  STAGGERS. 

It  is  believed,  that  the  disease  called  staggers, 
is  generally  occasioned  by  a  diseased  state  of  the 


108  TAMING  HORSES. 

stomach.  Copious  and  timely  bleeding  is  the 
sheet-anchor  on  which  we  must  depend.  I  shall, 
however,  give  the  following  recipe,  which  has  often 
proved  serviceable :  Take  of  oil  of  peppermint,  one 
scruple;  tincture  of  valerian,  one  ounce;  assafoe- 
tida,  five  drachms ;  mix  for  a  dose. 


TAMINGOF  WILD  HORSES 
By  J.  S.  RAREY, 

THE    AMERICAN    HORSE   TAMER. 


THE  THEEE  FUNDAMEIfTAL  PEIITOIPLES  OF 
MY  THEORY ; 

Founded  on  the  Leading  Characteristics  of  the  Horse. 

First. — That  he  is  so  constituted  by  nature  that 
he  will  not  offer  resistance  to  any  demand  made  of 
him  which  he  fully  comprehends,  if  made  in  a  way 
consistent  with  the  laws  of  his  nature. 

Second. — That  he  has  no  consciousness  of  his 
strength  beyond  his  experience,  and  can  be  han- 
dled according  to  our  will  without  force. 

Third. — That  we  can,  in  compliance  with  the 
laws  of  his  nature  by  which  he  examines  all  things 
new  to  him,  take  any  object,  however  frightful 
around,  over,  or  on  him,  that  does  not  inflict  pain, 
without  causing  him  to  fear. 
10 


110  TAMING    HORSES. 

To  take  these-assertions  in  order,  I  will  first  give 
you  some  of  the  reasons  why  I  think  he  is  natu- 
rally obedient,  and  will  not  offer  resistance  to  any- 
thing fully  comprehended.  The  horse,  though 
possessed  of  some  faculties  superior  to  man's,  being 
deficient  in  reasoning  powers,  has  no  knowledge  of 
right  or  wrong,  of  free  will  and  independent 
government,  an^  knows  not  of  any  imposition 
practised  upon  l^im,  however  unreasonable  these 
impositions  may  be.  Consequently,  he  cannot 
come  to  any  decision  as  to  what  he  should  or 
should  not  do,  because  he  has  not  the  reasoning  fa- 
culties of  man  to  argue  the  justice  of  the  thing  de- 
manded of  him.  If  he  had,  taking  into  considera- 
tion his  superior  strength,  he  would  be  useless  to 
man  as  a  servant.  Give  him  mind  in  proportion 
to  his  strength,  and  he  will  demand  of  us  the  green 
fields  for  his  inheritance,  where  he  will  roam  at 
leisure,  denying  the  right  of  servitude  at  all.  God 
has  wisely  formed  his  nature  so  that  it  can  be  ope- 
rated upon  by  the  knowledge  of  man  according  to 
the  dictates  of  his  will;  and  hfe  might  well  be^, 
termed  an  unconscious,  submissive  servant.  This 
truth  we  can  see  verified  in  every  day's  experience 
by  the  abuses  practised  upon  him.  Any  one  who 
chooses  to  be  so  cruel,  can  mount  the  noble  steed 
and  run  him  till  he  drops  with  fatigue,  or,  as  is 
often  the  case  with  the  more  spirited,  falls  dead  be- 


TAMING   HORSES.  Ill 

neatli  his  rider.  If  he  had  the  power  to  reason, 
would  he  not  rear  and  pitch  his  rider,  rather  than 
suffer  him  to  run  him  to  death  ?  Or  would  he  con- 
descend to  carry  at  all  the  vain  impostor,  who, 
with  but  equal  intellect,  was  trying  to  impose  on 
his  equal  rights  and  equally  independent  spirit. 
But  happily  for  us,  he  has  no  consciousness  of  im- 
position, no  thought  of  disobedience  except  by  im- 
pulse caused  by  the  violation  of  the  law  of  his  na- 
ture. Consequently,  when  disobedient,  it  is  the 
fault  of  man. 

Then,  we  can  but  come  to  the  conclusion  that,  if 
a  horse  is  not  taken  in  a  way  at  variance  with  the 
laws  of  his  nature,  he  will  do  anything  that  he 
fully  comprehends,  without  making  any  ofier  of 
resistance. 

Second — The  fact  of  the  horse  being  unconscious 
of  the  amount  of  his  strength  can  be  proven  to  the 
satisfaction  of  any  one.  For  instance,  such  re- 
marks as  these  are  common,  and  perhaps  familiar 
to  your  recollection.  One  person  says  to  another, 
"If  that  wild  horse  there  was  conscious  of  the 
amount  of  his  strength,  his  owner  w^ould  have  no 
business  with  him  in  that  vehicle ;  such  light  reins 
and  harness  too — if  he  knew  he  could  snap  them 
asunder  in  a  minute  and  be  as  free  as  the  air  we 
breathe;"  and,  "That  horse  yonder,  that  is  paw- 
ing and  fretting  to  follow  the  company  that  is  fast 


112  TAMING   HOKSES. 

leaving  him — if  he  knew  his  strength,  he  would 
not  remain  long  fastened  to  that  hitching  post  so 
much  against  his  will,  by  a  strap  that  would  no 
more  resist  his  powerful  weight  and  strength  tiian 
a  cotton  thread  would  bind  a  strong  man."  Yet 
these  facts,  made  common  by  every-day  occurrence, 
are  not  thought  of  as  anything  wonderful.  Like 
the  ignorant  man  who  looks  at  the  difierent  phases 
of  the  moon,  you  look  at  these  things  as  he  looks 
at  her  different  changes  without  troubling  your 
mind  with  the  question,  "  Why  are  these  things 
so?"  What  would  be  the  condition  of  the  world 
if  all  our  minds  lay  dormant?  If  men  did  not 
think,  reason,  and  act,  our  undisturbed,  slumbering 
intellects  would  not  excel  the  imbecility  of  the 
brute ;  we  should  live  in  chaos,  hardly  aware  of 
our  existence.  And  yet,  with  all  our  activity  of 
mind,  we  daily  pass  by  unobserved  that  which 
would  be  wonderful  if  philosophized  and  reasoned 
upon ;  and  with  the  same  inconsistenc}-  wonder  at 
that  which  a  little  consideration,  reason,  and  philo- 
sophy would  make  but  a  simple  affair. 

Third — He  will  allow  any  object,  however  fright- 
ful in  appearance,  to  come  around,  over,  or  on  him, 
that  does  not  inflict  pain. 

We  know  from  a  natural  course  of  reasoning, 
that  there  has  never  been  an  effect  without  a  cause, 
and  we  infer  from  this,  that  there  can  be  no  action 


LEG  STRAP, 


MR.  RAUKY  S  KXTRA  STRAP. 


TAMING   HOESES.  113 

either  in  animate  or  inanimate  matter,  without 
there  first  being  some  cause  to  produce  it.  And 
from  this  self-evident  fact  we  know  that  there  is 
some  cause  for  every  impulse  or  movement  of  either 
mind  or  matter,  and  that  this  law  governs  every 
action  or  movement  of  the  animal  kingdom.  Then, 
according  to  this  theory,  there  must  be  some  cause 
before  fear  can  exist ;  and,  if  fear  exists  from  the 
effect  of  imagination,  and  not  from  the  infliction 
of  real  pain,  it  can  be  removed  by  complying  with 
those  laws  of  nature  by  which  the  horse  examines 
an  object,  and  determines  upon  its  innocence  x)r 
harm. 

A  log  or  stump  by  the  road  side  may  be,  in  the 
imagination  of  the  horse,  some  great  beast  about  to 
pounce  upon  him ;  but  after  you  take  him  up  to  it 
and  let  him  stand  by  it  a  little  while,  and  touch  it 
with  his  nose,  and  go  through  his  process  of  exami- 
nation, he  will  not  care  anything  more  about  it. 
And  the  same  principle  and  process  will  have  the 
same  effect  with  any  other  object,  however  fright- 
ful in  appearance,  in  which  there  is  no  harm. 
Take  a  boy  that  has  been  frightened  by  a  false 
face,  or  any  other  object  that  he  could  not  compre- 
hend at  once ;  but  let  him  take  that  face,  or  object 
in  his  hands  and  examine  it,  and  he  will  not  care 
anything  more  about  it.  This  is  a  demonstration 
of  the  same  principle. 

10*  H 


114  TAMING  HORSES. 

With  this  introduction  to  the  principles  of  my 
theory,  I  shall  next  attempt  to  teach  you  how  to 
put  it  into  practice;  and,  whatever  instructions 
may  follow  you  can  rely  on,  as  having  been  proven 
practically  by  my  own  experiments.  And  know- 
ing from  experience  just  what  obstacles  I  have  met 
with  in  handling  bad  horses,  I  shall  try  to  antici- 
pate them  for  you,  and  assist  you  in  surmounting 
them,  by  commencing  with  the  first  steps  to  be 
taken  with  the  colt,  and  accompany  you  through 
the  whole  task  of  breaking. 


HOW  TO  SUCCEED  IN  GETTING  THE  COLT 
FROM  PASTURE. 

Go  to  the  pasture  and  walk  around  the  whole 
herd  quietly,  and  at  such  a  distance  as  not  to  cause 
them  to  scare  and  run.  Then  approach  them  very 
slowly,  and  if  they  stick  up  their  heads  and  seem 
to  be  frightened,  wait  until  they  become  quiet, 
so  as  not  to  make  them  run  before  you  are  close 
enough  to  drive  them  in  the  direction  you  want 
them  to  go.  And  when  you  begin  to  drive,  do  not 
flourish  your  arms  or  halloo,  but  gently  follow 
them  off,  leaving  the  direction  free  for  them  that 
you  wish  them  to  take.  Thus  taking  advantage 
of  their  ignorance,  you  will  be  able  to  get  them 


TAMING  HORSES.  115 

into  the  pound  as  easily  as  the  hunter  drives  the 
quails  into  his  net.  For,  if  they  have  always  run 
in  the  pasture  uncared  for  (as  many  horses  do  in 
^prairie  countries  and  on  large  plantations),  there 
is  no  reason  why  they  should  not  be  as  wild  as  the 
sportsman's  birds,  and  require  the  same  gentle 
treatment,  if  you  want  to  get  them  without  trouble ; 
for  the  horse  in  his  natural  state,  is  as  wild  as  any 
of  the  undomesticated  animals,  though  more  easily 
tamed  than  the  most  of  them. 


HOW  TO  STABLE  A  COLT  WITHOUT  TROU- 
BLE. 

The  next  step  will  be,  to  get  the  horse  into  a 
stable  or  shed.  This  should  be  done  as  quietly  as 
possible,  so  as  not  to  excite  any  suspicion  in  the 
horse  of  any  danger  befalling  him.  The  best  way 
to  do  this,  is  to  lead  a  gentle  horse  into  the  stable 
first,  and  hitch  him,  then  quietly  walk  around  the 
colt  and  let  him  go  in  of  his  own  accord.  It  is  al- 
most impossible  to  get  men  who  have  never  prac- 
tised on  this  principle  to  go  slowly  and  considerately 
enough  about  it.  They  do  not  know  that  in  hand- 
ling a  wild  horse,  above  all  other  thhigs,  is  that 
good  old  adage  true,  that  "  haste  makes  waste ; " 
that  is,  waste  of  time — for  the  gain  of  trouble  and 
perplexity. 


IIG  TAMING   HOT>wSES. 

One  wrong  move  may  frighten  your  horse,  and 
make  him  think  it  necessary  to  escape  at  all  haz- 
ards for  the  safety  of  his  life — and  thus  make  two 
hours'  work  of  a  ten  minutes'  job ;  and  this  would 
be  all  your  own  fault,  and  entirely  unnecessary — 
for  he  will  not  run  unless  you  run  after  him,  and 
that  would  not  be  good  policy  unless  you  knew 
that  you  could  outrun  him,  for  you  will  have  to 
let  him  stop  of  his  own  accord  after  all.     But  he 
will  not  try  to  break  away  unless  you  attempt  to 
force  him  into  measures.     If  he  does  not  see  the 
way  at  once,  and  is  a  little  fretful  about  going  in, 
do  not  undertake  to  drive  him,  but  give  him  a 
little  less  room  outside,  by  gently  closing  in  around 
him.     Do  not  raise  your  arms,  but  let  them  hang 
at  your  side,  for  you  might  as  well  raise  a  club : 
the  horse  has  never  studied  anatomy,  and  does  not 
know  but  that  they  will  unhinge  themselves  and 
Hy  at  him.     If  he  attempts  to  turn  back,  walk  be- 
fore him,  but  do  not  run  ;  and  if  he  gets  past  you, 
encircle  him  again  m  the  same  quiet  manner,  and 
he  will  soon  find  that  you  are  not  going  to  hurt 
him ;  and  then  you  can  walk  so  close  around  him 
that  he  will  go  into  the  stable  for  more  room,  and 
to  get  farther  from  you.     As  soon  as  he  is  in,  re- 
move the  quiet  horse  and  shut  the  door.     This  will 
be  his  first  notion  of  confinement — not  knowing 
how  he  got  into  such  a  place,  nor  how  to  get  out 


TAMING   HORSES.  117 

of  it.  That  he  may  take  it  as  quietly  as  possible, 
see  that  the  shed  is  entirely  free  from  dogs,  chick- 
ens, or  anything  that  would  annoy  him.  Then 
give  him  a  few  ears  of  corn,  and  let  him  remain 
alone  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  until  he  has  exa- 
mined his  apartment,  and  has  become  reconciled 
to  his  confinement. 

TIME   TO  REFLECT. 

And  now,  while  your  horse  is  eating  those  few 
ears  of  corn,  is  the  proper  time  to  see  that  your 
halter  is  ready  and  all  right,  and  to  reflect  on  the 
best  mode  of  operations ;  for  in  horsebreaking  it  is 
highly  important  that  you  should  be  governed  by 
some  system.  And  you  should  know,  before  you 
attempt  to  do  anything,  just  what  you  are  going  to 
do,  and  how  you  are  going  to  do  it.  And,  if  you 
are  experienced  in  the  art  of  taming  wild  horses, 
you  ought  to  be  able  to  tell,  within  a  few  minutes, 
the  length  of  time  it  would  take  you  to  halter  the 
colt,  and  teach  him  to  lead. 

THE  KIND  OF  HALTER. 

Always  use  a  leather  halter,  and  be  sure  to  have 
it  made  so  that  it  will  not  draw  tight  around  his 
nose  if  he  pulls  on  it.  It  should  be  of  the  right 
size  to  fit  his  head  easily  and  nicely ;  so  that  the 
nose-band  will  not  be  too  tight  or  too  low.     Never 


118  TAMING  HORSES. 

put  a  rope  halter  on  an  unbroken  colt,  under  any 
circumstances  whatever.  They  have  caused  more 
horses  to  hurt  or  kill  themselves  than  would  pay 
for  twice  the  cost  of  all  the  leather  halters  that 
have  ever  been  needed  for  the  purpose  of  haltering 
colts.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  break  a  colt  that 
is  very  wild  with  a  rope  halter,  without  having 
him  pull,  rear,  and  throw  himself,  and  thus  endan- 
ger his  life ;  and  I  will  tell  you  why.  It  is  just  as 
natural  for  a  horse  to  try  to  get  h^  head  out  of 
anything  that  hurts  it,  or  feels  unpleasant,  as  it 
would  be  for  you  to  try  to  get  your  hand  out  of  a 
fire.  The  cords  of  the  rope  are  hard  and  cutting ; 
this  makes  him  raise  his  head  and  draw  on  it,  and 
as  soon  as  he  pulls,  the  slip  noose  (the  way  rope 
halters  are  always  made)  tightens,  and  pinches  his 
nose,  and  then  he  will  struggle  for  life,  until,  per- 
chance, he  throws  himself;  and  who  would  have 
his  horse  throw  himself,  and  run  the  risk  of  break- 
ing his  neck,  rather  than  pay  the  price  of  a  leather 
halter?  But  this  is  not  the  worst.  A  horse  that 
has  once  pulled  on  his  halter  can  never  be  as  well 
broken  as  one  that  has  never  pulled  at  all. 

REMARKS  ON  THE  HORSE. 

But  before  we  attempt  to  do  anything  more  with 
the  colt,  I  will  give  you  some  of  the  characteristics 
of  his  nature,  that  you  may  better  understand  his 


TAMING  HORSES.  119 

motions.  Every  one  that  has  ever  paid  any  atten- 
tion to  the  horse,  has  noticed  his  natural  inclina- 
tion to  smell  everything  which  to  him  looks  new 
and  frightful.  This  is  their  strange  mode  of  exa- 
mining everything.  And,  when  they  are  fright- 
ened at  anything,  though  they  look  at  it  sharply, 
they  seem  to  have  no  confidence  in  this  optical  ex- 
amination alone,  but  must  touch  it  with  the  nose 
before  they  are  entirely  satisfied ;  and,  as  soon  as 
this  is  done,  all  is  right 

♦  EXPERIMENT  WITH    THE  ROBE. 

If  you  want  to  satisfy  yourself  of  this  character- 
istic of  the  horse,  and  to  learn  something  of  impor- 
tance concerning  the  peculiarities  of  his  nature, 
&c.,  turn  him  into  the  barn-yard,  or  a  large  stable 
will  do,  and  then  gather  up  something  that  you 
know  will  frighten  him— a  red  blanket,  bufialo- 
robe,  or  something  of  that  kind.  Hold  it  up  so 
that  he  can  see  it,  he  will  stick  up  his  head  and 
snort.  Then  throw  it  down  somewhere  in  the  cen- 
tre of  the  lot  or  barn,  and  walk  oflT  to  one  side. 
Watch  his  motions,  and  study  his  nature.  If  he 
is  frightened  at  the  object,  he  will  not  rest  until  he 
has  touched  it  with  his  nose.  You  will  see  him 
begin  to  walk  around  the  robe  and  snort,  all  the 
time  getting  a  little  closer,  as  if  drawn  up  by  some 
magic  spell,  until  he  finally  gets  within  reach  of  it. 


120  TAMING  HORSES. 

He  will  then  very  cautiously  stretch  out  his  neck 
as  far  as  he  can  reach,  merely  touching  it  with  his 
nose,  as  though  he  thought  it  was  ready  to  fly  at 
him.  But  after  he  has  repeated  these  touches  a 
few  times,  for  the  first  time  (though  he  has  been 
looking  at  it  all  the  while,)  he  seems  to  have  an 
idea  what  it  is.  But  now  he  has  found,  by  the 
sense  of  feeling,  that  it  is  nothing  that  will  do  him 
any  harm,  and  he  is  ready  to  play  with  it.  And 
if  you  watch  him  closely,  you  will  see  him  take 
hold  of  it  with  his  teeth,  and  raise  it  up  and  pull 
at  it.  And  in  a  few  minutes  you  can  see  that  he 
has  not  that  same  wild  look  about  his  eye,  but 
stands  like  a  horse  biting  at  some  familiar  stump. 
Yet  the  horse  is  never  so  well  satisfied  when  he 
is  about  anything  that  has  frightened  him,  as  when 
he  is  standing  with  his  nose  to  it.  And,  in  nine 
cases  out  of  ten,  you  will  see  some  of  that  same 
wild  look  about  him  again,  as  he  turns  to  walk 
from  it.  And  you  will  probably  see  him  looking 
back  very  suspiciously  as  he  walks  away,  as  though 
he  thought  it  might  come  after  him  yet.  And  in  all 
probability,  he  will  have  to  go  back  and  make  ano- 
ther examination  before  he  is  satisfied.  But  he 
will  familiarize  himself  with  it,  and,  if  he  should 
run  in  that  lot  a  few  days,  the  robe  that  frightened 
him  so  much  at  first  will  be  no  more'  to  him  than  a 
familiar  stump. 


TAMING  HORSES.  121 


SUGGESTIONS  ON  THE  HABIT  OF  SMELLING, 

We  might  very  naturally  suppose  from  the  fact 
of  the  horse's  applying  his  nose  to  everything  new 
to  him,  that  he  always  does  so  for  the  purpose  of 
smelling  these  objects;  but  I  believe  that  it  is  as 
much  or  more  for  the  purpose  of  feeling,  and  that 
he  makes  use  of  his  nose,  or  muzzle,  (as  it  is  some- 
times called),  as  we  would  of  our  hands ;  because 
it  is  the  only  organ  by  which  he  can  touch  or  feel 
anything  with  much  susceptibility. 

I  believe  that  he  invariably  makes  use  of  the 
four  senses — seeing,  hearing,  smelling,  and  feeling — - 
in  all  of  his  examinations,  of  which  the  sense  of 
feeling  is,  perhaps,  the  most  important.  And  I 
think  that,  in  the  experiment  with  the  robe,  his 
gradual  approach  and  final  touch  with  his  nose 
was  as  much  for  the  purpose  of  feeling  as  anything 
else,  his  sense  of  smell  being  so  keen  that  it  would 
not  be  necessary  for  him  to  touch  his  nose  against 
anything  in  order  to  get  the  proper  scent ;  for  it  is 
said  that  a  horse  can  smell  a  man  at  the  distance 
of  a  mile.  And  if  the  scent  of  the  robe  was  all 
that  was  necessary,  he  could  get  that  several  rods 
11 


122  TAMING   HORSES. 

off.  But  we  know  from  experience,  that  if  a  horse 
sees  and  smells  a  robe  a  short  distance  from  him, 
he  is  very  much  frightened  (unless  he  is  used  to 
it)  until  he  touches  or  feels  it  with  his  nose ;  which 
is  a  positive  proof  that  feeling  is  the  controlling 
sense  in  this  case. 

PREVAILING  OPINION  OF  HORSEMEN. 

It  is  a  prevailing  opinion  among  horsemen  gene- 
rally that  the  sense  of  smell  is  the  governing  sense 
of  the  horse.  And  Faucher,  as  well  as  others,  has 
with  that  view  got  up  receipts  of  strong  smelling 
oils,  &c.,  to  tame  the  horse,  sometimes  using  the 
chestnut  of  his  leg,  which  they  dry,  grind  into 
powder,  and  blow  into  his  nostrils,  sometimes  using 
the  oils  of  rhodium,  origanum,  &c.,  that  are  noted 
for  their  strong  smell ;  and  sometimes  they  scent 
the  hand  with  the  sweat  from  under  the  arm,  or 
blow  their  breath  into  his  nostrils,  &c.,  &c.  All 
of  which,  as  far  as  the  scent  goes,  have  no  effect 
whatever  in  gentling  the  horse,  or  conveying  any 
idea  to  his  mind ;  though  the  acts  that  accompany 
these  efforts — handling  him,  touching  him  about 
the  nose  and  head,  and  patting  him,  as  they  direct 
you  should,  after  administering  the  articles,  may 
have  a  very  great  effect,  which  they  mistake  to  be 
the  effect  of  the  ingredients  used.  And  Faucher, 
in  his  work,  entitled  "  The  Arabian  Art  of  Taming 


TAMING  HORSES.  123 

Horses,"  page  17,  tells  us  how  to  accustom  a  horse 
to  a  robe,  by  administering  certain  articles  to  his 
nose;  and  goes  on  to  say  that  these  articles  must 
first  be  applied  to  the  horse's  nose  before  you 
attempt  to  break  him,  in  order  to  operate  success- 
fully. 

Now,  reader,  can  you,  or  any  one  else,  give  one 
single  reason  how  scent  can  convey  any  idea  to  the 
horse's  mind  of  what  we  want  him  to  do  ?  If  not, 
then  of  course  strong  scents  of  any  kind  are  of  no 
avail  in  taming  the  unbroken  horse.  For,  every- 
thing that  we  get  him  to  do  of  his  own  accord, 
without  force,  must  be  accomplished  by  some  means 
of  conveying  our  ideas  to  his  mind.  I  say  to  my 
horse,  "  Go-'long ! "  and  he  goes.  "  Ho ! "  and  he 
stops ;  because  these  two  words,  of  which  he  has 
learned  the  meaning  by  the  tap  of  the  whip  and 
the  pull  of  the  rein  that  first  accompanied  them, 
convey  the  two  ideas  to  his  mind  of  go  and  stop. 

Neither  Faucher,  nor  any  one  else,  can  ever 
teach  the  horse  a  single  thing  by  the  means  of 
scent  alone. 

How  long  do  you  suppose  a  horse  would  have  to 
stand  and  smell  a  bottle  of  oil  before  he  would 
learn  to  bend  his  knee  and  make  a  bow  at  your 
bidding,  "Go  yonder  and  bring  your  hat,"  or 
"Come  here  and  lie  down"?  Thus  you  see  the 
absui'dity  of  trying  to  break  or  tame  the  horse  by 


124  TAMING  HORSES. 

tlie  means  of  receipts  for  articles  to  smell  at,  or 
medicine  to  give  him,  of  any  kind  whatever. 

The  only  science  that  has  ever  existed  in  the 
world,  relative  to  the  breaking  of  horses,  that  has 
been  of  any  value,  is  that  true  method  which  takes 
them  in  their  native  state,  and  improves  their  in- 
telligence. 

POWEL'S   SYSTEM   OF    APPROACHING    THE 

COLT. 

But,  before  we  go  further,  I  will  give  you  Willis 
J.  Powel's  system  of  approaching  a  wild  colt,  as 
given  by  him  in  a  work  on  the  "  Art  of  Taming 
Wild  Horses."  He  says,  "  A  horse  is  gentled  by 
my  secret  in  from  two  to  sixteen  hours."  The  time 
I  have  most  commonly  employed  has  been  from 
four  to  six  hours.  He  goes  on  to  say,  (see  page 
35,  of  this  work). 


REMARKS  ON  POWEL'S  TREATMENT.— HOW 
TO  GOVERN  HORSES  OF   ANY  KIND. 

These  instructions  are  very  good,  but  not  quite 
sufficient  for  horses  of  all  kinds,  and  for  haltering 
and  leading  the  colt;  but  I  have  inserted  them 
here  because  they  give  some  of  the  true  jDhilosophy 
of  approaching  the  horse,  and  of  establishing  con- 


TAMING   HORSES.  125 

fidence  between  man  and  horse.     He  speaks  only 
of  the  kind  that  fear  man. 

To  those  who  understand  the  philosophy  of  horse- 
manship, these  are  the  easiest  trained ;  for  when 
we  have  a  horse  that  is  wild  and  lively,  we  can 
train  him  to  our  will  in  a  very  short  time — for  they 
are  generally  quick  to  learn,  and  always  ready  to 
obey.  But  there  is  another  kind  that  are  of  a 
stubborn  or  vicious  disposition ;  and  although  they 
are  not  wild,  and  do  not  require  taming  in  the 
sense  it  is  generally  understood,  they  are  just  as 
ignorant  as  a  wild  horse,  if  not  more  so,  and  need 
to  be  taught  just  as  much :  and  in  order  to  have 
them  obey  quickly,  it  is  very  necessary  that  they 
should  be  made  to  fear  their  master ;  for,  in  drdor 
to  obtain  perfect  obedience  from  any  horse,  we 
must  first  hav^e  him  fear  us,  for  our  motto  is,  fear, 
love,  and  obey;  and  we  must  have  the  fulfilment 
of  the  first  two  before  we  can  expect  the  latter ;  for 
it  is  by  our  philosophy  of  creating  fear,  love,  and 
confidence,  that  we  govern  to  our  will  every  kind 
of  horse  whatever. 

Then,  in  order  to  take  horses  as  we  find  them, 
of  all  kinds,  and  to  train  them  to  our  liking,  we 
will  always  take  with  us,  when  we  go  into  a  stable 
to  train  a  colt,  a  loag  switch  whip  (whalebone 
buggy-whips  are  the  best),  with  a  good  silk  cracker 

so  as  to  cut  keenly  and  make  a  sharp  report,  which, 
11* 


126  TAMING   HORSES. 

if  handled  witli  dexterity,  and  rightly  applied,  ac- 
companied with  a  sharp  fierce  word,  will  be  suffi- 
cient to  enliven  the  spirits  of  any  horse.  With 
this  whi^)  in  your  right  hand,  with  the  lash  point- 
ing backward,  enter  the  stable  alone.  It  is  a  great 
disadvantage  in  training  a  horse  to  have  any  one 
in  the  stable  with  you;  you  should  be  entirely 
alone,  so  as  to  have  nothing  but  yourself  to  attract 
his  attention.  If  he  is  wild,  you  will  soon  see  him 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  stable  from  you  ;  and 
now  is  the  time  to  use  a  little  judgment.  I  should 
not  want,  for  myself,  more  than  half  or  three- 
quarters  of  an  hour  to  handle  any  kind  of  a  colt, 
and  have  him  running  about  in  the  stable  after  me ; 
though  I  would  advise  a  new  begimier  to  take 
more  time,  and  not  be  in  too  much  of  a  hurry.  If 
you  have  but  one  colt  to  gentle,  and  are  not  par- 
ticular about  the  length  of  time  you  spend,  and 
have  not  had  any  experience  in  handling  colts,  I 
v/ould  advise  you  to  take  Mr.  Powel's  method  at 
first,  till  you  gentle  him,  which  he  says  takes  from 
two  to  six  hours.  But  as  I  want  to  accomplish  the 
same,  and  what  is  more,  teach  the  horse  to  lead,  in 
less  than  one  hour,  I  shall  give.you  a  much  quicker 
process  of  accomplishing  the  same  end.  Accord- 
ingly, when  you  have  entered  the  stable,  stand  still, 
and  let  your  horse  look  at  you  a  minute  or  two, 
and  as  soon  as  he  is  settled  in  one  place,  approach 


TAMING   HORSES.  127 

him  slowly,  with  both  arms  stationary,  your  right 
hanging  by  your  side,  holding  the  whip  as  directed 
and  the  left  bent  at  the  elbow,  with  your  hand 
projecting.     As  you  approach  him,  go  not  too  much 
towards  his  head  or  croup,  so  as  not  to  make  him 
move  either  forward  or  backward,  thus  keeping 
your  horse  stationary;  if  he  does  move  a  little 
either  forward  or  backward,  step  a  little  to  the 
right  or  left  very  cautiously ;  this  will  keep  him  in 
one  place.     As  you  get  very  near  him,  draw  a 
little  to  his  shoulder,  and  stop  a  few  seconds.  '  If 
you  are  in  his  reach  he  will  turn  his  head  and 
smell  your  hand,  not  that  he  has  any  preference 
for  your  hand,  but  because  that  is  projecting,  and 
is  the  nearest  portion  of  your  body  to  the  horse. 
This  all  colts  will  do,  and  they  will  smell  your  na- 
ked hand  just  as  quickly  as  they  will  anything 
that  you  can  put  in  it,  and  with  just  as  good  an 
effect,  however  much  some  men  have  preached  the 
doctrine  of  taming  horses  by  giving  them  the  scent 
of  articles  from  the  hand.     I  have  already  proved 
th-at  to  be  a  mistake.     As  soon  as  he  touches  his 
nose  to  your  hand,  caress  him  as  before  directed, 
always  using  a  very  light  soft  hand,  merely  touch- 
ing the  horse,  always  rubbing  the  way  the  hair 
lies,  so  that  your  hand  will  pass  along  as  smoothly 
as  possible.     As  you  stand  by 'his  side,  you  may 
find  it  more  convenient  to  rub  his  neck  or  the  side 


128  TAMING   HORSES. 

of  his  head,  which  will  answer  the  same  purpose  aa 
rubbing  his  forehead.  Favour  every  inclination  of 
the  horse  to  smell  or  touch  you  with  his  nose.  Al- 
ways follow  each  touch  or  communication  of  this 
kind  with  the  most  tender  and  affectionate  caresses, 
accompanied  with  a  kind  look,  and  pleasant  word 
of  some  sort,  such  as  ,"  Ho !  my  little  boy — ho !  my 
little  boy ! "  "  Pretty  boy  ! "  "  Nice  lady  !  "  or  some- 
thing of  that  kind,  constantly  repeating  the  same 
words,  with  the  same  kind,  steady  tone  of  voice ;  for 
the  horse  soon  learns  to  read  the  expression  of  the 
face  and  voice,  and  will  know  as  well  when  fear, 
love,  or  anger  prevails,  as  you  know  your  own  feel- 
ings ;  two  of  which,  fear  and  anger,  a  good  horse- 
man should  never  feel. 


HOW   TO  PROCEED  IF  YOUR  HORSE  BE    OF 
A  STUBBORN  DISPOSITION. 

If  your  horse,  instead  of  being  wild,  seems  to  be 
of  a  stubborn  or  mulish  disposition ;  if  he  lays  back 
his  ears  as  you  approach  him,  or  turns  his  heels  to 
kick  you,  he  has  not  that  regard  or  fear  of  man 
that  he  should  have,  to  enable  you  to  handle  him 
quickly  and  easily ;  and  it  might  be  well  to  give 
him  a  few  sharp  outs  with  the  whip,  about  the  legs, 
pretty  close  to  the  body.     It  will  crack  keenly  as 


TAlsnNG   HORSES.  129 

it  plies  around  his  legs,  and  the  crack  of  the  whip 
will  affect  him  as  much  as  the  stroke ;  besides,  one 
sharp  cut  about  his  legs  will  affect  him  more  than 
two  or  three  over  his  back,  the  skin  on  the  inner 
part  of  his  legs  or  about  his  flank  being  thinner, 
more  tender,  than  on  his  back.  But  do  not  whip 
him  much — just  enough  to  scare  him;  it  is  not  be- 
cause we  want  to  hurt  the  horse  that  we  whip  him, 
we  only  do  it  to  scare  that  bad  disposition  out  of 
him.  But  whatever  you  do,  do  quickly,  sharply, 
and  with  a  good  deal  of  fire,  but  always  without 
anger.  If  you  are  going  to  scare  him  at  all  you 
must  do  it  at  once.  Never  go  into  a  pitched  bat- 
tle with  your  horse,  and  whip  him  until  he  is  mad 
and  will  fight  you  ;  you  had  better  not  touch  him 
at  all,  for  you  will  establish,  instead  of  fear  and 
regard,  feelings  of  resentment,  hatred,  and  ill-will. 
It  will  do  him  no  good,  but  an  injury,  to  strike  a 
blow,  unless  you  can  scare  him  ;  but  if  you  succeed 
in  scaring  him,  you  can  whip  him  without  making 
him  mad ;  for  fear  and  anger  never  exist  together 
in  the  horse,  and  as  soon  as  one  is  visible,  you  will 
find  that  the  other  has  disappeared.  As  soon  as 
you  have  frightened  him  so  that  he  will  stand  up 
straight  and  pay  some  attention  to  you,  approach 
him  again,  and  caress  him  a  good  deal  more  than 
you  whipped  him,  then  you  will  excite  the  two 
controlling  passions  of  his  nature,  love  and  fear, 

I 


130  TAMING   HORSES. 

and  then  lie  will  love  and  fear  you  too,  and,  as 
soon  as  he  learns  what  to  do,  will  obey  quickly. 


HOW  TO  HALTER  AND   LEAD  A  COLT. 

As  soon  as  you  have  gentled  the  colt  a  little, 
take  the  halter  in  your  left  hand  and  approach 
him  as  before,  and  on  the  same  side  that  you  have 
gentled  him.  If  he  is  very  timid  about  your  ap- 
proaching closely  to  him,  you  can  get  up  to  him 
quicker  by  making  the  whip  a  part  of  your  arm, 
and  reaching  out  very  gently  with  the  butt-end  of 
it ;  rubbing  him  lightly  on  the  neck,  all  the  time 
getting  a  little  closer,  shortening  the  whip  by 
taking  it  up  in  your  hand,  until  you  finally  get 
close  enough  to  put  your  hands  on  him.  If  he  is 
inclined  to  hold  his  head  from  you,  put  the  end  of 
the  halter-strap  around  his  neck,  drop  your  whip, 
and  draw  very  gently ;  he  will  let  his  neck  give, 
and  you  can  pull  his  head  to  you.  Then  take  hold 
of  that  part  of  the  halter  which  buckles  over  the 
top  of  his  head,  and  pass  the  long  side,  or  that 
part  which  goes  into  the  buckle,  under  his  neck, 
grasping  it  on  the  opposite  side  with  your  right 
hand,  letting  the  first  strap  loose — the  latter  will 
be  sufficient  to  hold  his  head  to  you.  Lower  the 
halter  a  little,  just  enough  to  get  his  nose  into  that 


TAMING  HORSES.  131 

part  wliicli  goes  around  it ;  then  raise  it  somewhat, 
and  fasten  the  top  buckle,  and  you  will  have  it  all 
right.     The  first  time  you  halter  a  colt  you  should 
stand  on  the  left  side,  pretty  well  back  to  his 
shoulder,  only  taking  hold  of  that  part  of  the  hal- 
ter that  goes  round  his  neck ;  then  with  your  two 
hands  about  his  neck  you  can  hold  his  head  to 
you,  and  raise  the  halter  on  it  without  making  him 
dodge  by  putting  your  hands  about  his  nose.     You 
should  have  a  long  rope  or  strap  ready,  and  as 
soon  as  you  have  the  halter  on,  attach  this  to  it,  so 
that  you  can  let  him  walk  the  length  of  the  stable 
without  letting  go  of  the  strap,  or  without  making 
him  pull  on  the  halter,  for  if  you  only  let  him  feel 
the  weight  of  your  hand  on  the  halter,  and  give 
him  rope  when  he  runs  from  you,  he  will  never 
rear,  pull,  or  throw  himself,  yet  you  will  be  hold- 
ing him  all  the  time,  and  doing  more  towards  gen- 
tling him  than  if  you  had  the  power  to  snub  him 
right  up  and  hold  him  to  one  spot ;  because,  he 
does  not  know  anything  about  his  strength,  and  if 
you  don't  do  anything  to  make  him  pull,  he  will 
never  know  that  he  can.     In  a  few  minutes  you 
can  begin  to  control  him  with  the  halter,  then 
shorten  the  distance  between  yourself  and  the  horse 
by  taking  up  the  strap  in  your  hand. 

As  soon  as  he  will  allow  you  to  hold  him  by  a 
tolerably  short  strap,  and  to  step  up  to  him  with- 


132  TAMING  HORSES. 

out  flying  back,  you  can  begin  to  give  some  idea 
about  leading.  But  to  do  tliis,  do  not  go  before 
and  attempt  to  puil  him  after  you,  but  commence 
by  pulling  him  very  quietly  to  one  side^  He  has 
nothing  to  brace  either  side  of  his  neck,  and  will 
soon  yield  to  a  study,  gradual  pull  of  the  halter ; 
and  as  soon  as  you  have  pulled  him  a  step  or  two 
to  one  side,  step  up  to  him  and  caress  him,  and  then 
pull  him  again,  repeating  this  operation  until  you 
can  pull  him  around  in  every  direction,  and  walk 
about  the  stable  with  him,  v/hich  you  can  do  in  a 
few  minutes,  for  he  will  soon  think  when  you  have 
made  him  step  to  the  right  or  left  a  few  times,  that 
he  is  compelled  to  follow  the  pull  of  the  halter,  not 
knowing  that  he  has  the  power  to  resist  your  pul- 
ling; besides  you  have  handled  him  so  gently  that 
he  is  not  afraid  of  you,  and  you  always  caress  him 
when  he  comes  up  to  you,  and  he  likes  that,  and 
would  just  as  lief  follow  you  as  not.  And  after  he 
has  had  a  few  lessons  of  that  kind,  if  you  turn  him 
out  in  a  lot,  he  will  come  up  to  you  every  oppor- 
tunity he  gets.  You  should  lead  him  about  in  the 
stable  some  time  before  you  take  him  out,  opening 
the  door,  so  that  he  can  see  out,  leading  him  up  to 
it  and  back  again,  and  past  it.  See  that  there  is 
nothing  on  the  outside  to  make  him  jump  when 
you  take  him  out,  and  as  you  go  out  with  him,  try 
to  make  him  go  very  slowly,  catching  hold  of  the 


TAMING  HORSES.  133 

halter  close  to  the  jaw  with  your  left  hand,  while 
the  right  is  resting  on  the  top  of  the  neck,  holding 
to  his  mane.  After  you  are  out  with  him  a  little 
while,  you  can  lead  him  about  as  you  please. 
Don't  let  any  second  person  come  up  to  you  when 
you  first  take  him  out ;  a  stranger  taking  hold  of 
the  halter  would  frighten  him,  and  make  him  run. 
There  should  not  even  be  any  one  standing  near 
him,  to  attract  his  attention  or  scare  him.  If  you 
are  alone,  and  manage  him  rightly,  it  will  not  re- 
quire any  more  force  to  lead  or  hold  him  than  it 
would  to  manage  a  broken  horse. 


HOW   TO  LEAD    A  COLT   BY   THE  SIDE   OF 
A  BROKEN  HORSE. 

If  you  should  want  to  lead  your  colt  by  the  side 
of  another  horse,  as  is  often  the  case,  I  would  ad- 
vise you  to  take  your  horse  into  the  stable,  attach 
a  second  strap  to  the  colt's  halter,  and  lead  your 
horse  up  alongside  of  him.  Then  get  on  the  broken 
horse  and  take  one  strap  around  his  breast,  under 
his  martingale  (if  he  has  any  on),  holding  it  in 
your  left  hand.  This  will  prevent  the  colt  from 
getting  back  too  far;  besides,  you  will  have  more 
power  to  hold  him  with  the  strap  pulling  against 
the  horse's  breast.  The  other  strap  take  up  in 
12 


134  TAMING  HORSES. 

your  right  hand  to  j^i'event  him  from  running 
ahead;  then  turn  him  about  a  few  times  in  the 
stable,  and  if  the  door  is  wide  enough,  ride  out 
with  him  in  that  position ;  if  not,  take  the  broken 
horse  out  first,  and  stand  his  breast  up  against  the 
door,  then  lead  the  colt  to  the  same  spot,  and  take 
the  straps  as  before  directed,  one  on  each  side  of 
his  neck,  then  let  some  one  start  the  colt  out,  and 
as  he  comes  out,  turn  your  horse  to  the  left,  and 
you  will  have  them  all  right.  This  is  the  best 
way  to  lead  a  colt ;  you  can  manage  any  kind  of 
colt  in  this  way,  without  any  trouble;  for  if  he 
tries  to  run  ahead,  or  pull  back,  the  two  straps 
will  bring  the  horses  facing  each  other,  so  that  you 
can  very  easily  follow  up  his  movements  without 
doing  much  holding,  and  as  soon  as  he  stops  run- 
ning backward  you  are  right  with  him,  and  all 
ready  to  go  ahead ;  and  if  he  gets  stubborn  and 
does  not  want  to  go,  you  can  remove  all  his  stub- 
bornness by  riding  your  horse  against  his  neck, 
thus  compelling  him  to  turn  to  the  right ;  and  as 
soon  as  you  have  turned  him  about  a  few  times,  he 
will  be  willing  to  go  along.  The  next  thing,  after 
you  have  got  through  leading  him,  will  be  to  take 
him  into  a  stable,  and  hitch  him  in  such  a  way  as 
not  to  have  him  pull  on  the  halter,  and  as  they  are 
often  troublesome  to  get  into  a  stable  the  first  few 
times,  I  will  give  you  some  instructions  about  get- 
ting him  in. 


TAMING   HORSES.  135 


HOW  TO  LEAD  A  COLT  INTO  THE  STABLE 

AND    HITCH    HIM    WITHOUT    HAVING 

HIM  PULL  ON  THE  HALTER. 

You  should  lead  the  broken  horse  into  the  stable 
first,  and  get  the  colt,  if  you  can,  to  follow  in  after 
him.  If  he  refuses  to  go,  step  up  to  him,  taking  a 
little  stick  or  switch  in  your  right  hand  ;  then  take 
hold  of  the  halter  close  to  his  head  with  your  left 
hand,  at  the  same  time  reaching  over  his  back  with 
your  right  arm,  so  that  you  can  tap  him  on  the 
opposite  side  with  your  switch ;  bring  him  up  fa- 
cing the  door,  tap  him  lightly  with  your  switch, 
reaching  as  far  back  with  it  as  you  can.  This  tap- 
ping, by  being  pretty  well  back,  and  on  the  oppo- 
site side,  will  drive  him  ahead,  and  keep  h\m  close 
to  you ;  then,  by  giving  him  the  right  direction 
with  your  left  hand  you  can  walk  into  the  stable 
with  him.  I  have  walked  colts  into  the  stable  in 
this  way  in  less  than  a  minute,  after  men  had 
worked  at  them  half  an  hour,  trying  to  pull  them 
in.  If  you  cannot  walk  him  in  at  once  in  this  way, 
turn  him  about  and  walk  him  around  in  every  di- 
rection, until  you  can  get  him  up  to  the  door  with- 


136  TAMING   HORSES. 

out  pulling  at  him.  Then  let  him  stand  a  few  mi- 
nutes, keeping  his  head  in  the  right  direction  with 
the  halter,  and  he  will  walk  in  in  less  thau  ten 
minutes.  Never  attempt  to  pull  the  colt  into  the 
stable ;  that  would  make  him  think  at  once  that  it 
was  a  dangerous  place,  and  if  he  was  not  afraid  of 
it  before  he  would  be  then.  Besides,  we  do  not 
want  him  to  know  anything  about  pulling  on  the 
halter.  Colts  are  often  hurt,  and  sometimes  killed, 
by  trying  to  force  them  into  the  stable ;  and  those 
who  attempt  to  do  it  in  that  way  go  into  an  up- 
hill business,  when  a  plain  smooth  road  is  before 
them. 

If  you  want  to  hitch  your  colt,  put  him  in  a  tol- 
erably wide  stall,  which  should  not  be  too  long, 
and  should  be  connected  by  a  bar  or  something  of 
that  kind  to  the  partition  behind  it;  so  that,  after 
the  colt  is  in,  he  cannot  get  far  enough  back  to 
take  a  straight,  backward  pull  on  the  halter;  then, 
by  hitching  iiim  in  the  centre  of  the  stall,  it  would 
be  impossible  for  him  to  pull  on  the  halter,  the 
partition  behind  preventing  him  from  going  back, 
and  tiie  halter  in  the  centre  checking  him  every 
time  he  turns  to  the  right  or  left.  In  a  stall  of 
this  kind  you  can  break  any  horse  to  stand  hitched 
by  a  light  strap,  anywhere,  without  his  ever  know- 
ing anything  about  pulling.  But  if  you  have  bro- 
ken your  horse  to  lead,  and  have  learned  him  the 


TAMING   HORSES.  137 

use  of  the  halter  (which  you  should  always  do  be- 
fore you  hitch  him  to  anything),  you  can  hitch  him 
in  any  kind  of  a  stall,  and  give  him  something  to 
eat  to  keep  hira  up  to  his  place  for  a  few  minutes 
at  first,  and  there  is  not  one  colt  in  fifty  that  will 
pull  on  his  halter. 


THE   KIND  OF   BIT,  AND    HOW  TO'  ACCUS- 
1  OM  A  HORSE  TO  IT. 

You  should  use  a  large,  smooth,  snaffle-bit,  so  as 

not  to  hurt  his  mouth,,  with  a  bar  to  each  side,  to 

prevent  the  bit  from  pulling  through  either  way. 

This  you  should  attach  to  the  head-stall  of  your 

bridle,  and  put  it  on  your  colt  without  any  reins 

to  it,  and  let  him  run  loose  in  a  large  stable  or 

shed  some  time,  until  he  becomes  a  little  used  to 

the  bit,  and  will  bear  it  without  trying  to  get  it 

out  of  his  mouth.     It  would  be  well,  if  convenient, 

to  repeat  this  several  tipies,  before  you  do  anything 

more  with  the  colt ;  as  soon  as  he  will  bear  the  bit, 

attach  a  single  rein  to  it,  without  any  martingale. 

You  should  also  have  a  halter  on  your  colt,  or  a 

bridle  made 'after  the  fashion  of  a  halter,  with  a 

strap  to  it,  so  that  you  can  hold  or  lead  him  about 

without  pulling  on  the  bit  much.     He  is  now  ready 

for  the  saddle. 
12* 


138  TAMING   HORSES. 


HOW  TO   SADDLE  A  COLT. 

Any  one  man  who  understands  this  theory  can 
put  a  saddle  on  the  wildest  colt  that  ever  grew, 
without  any  help,  and  without  scaring  him.  The 
first  thing  will  be  to  tie  each  stirrup-strap  into  a 
loose  knot  to  make  them  short,  and  prevent  the 
stirrups  from  flying  about  and  hitting  him.  Then 
double  up  the  skirts,  and  take  the  saddle  under 
your  right  arm,  so  as  not  to  frighten  him  with  it 
as  you  approach.  When  you  get  to  him,  rub  him 
gently  a  few  times  with  your  hand,  and  then  raise 
the  saddle  very  slowly,  until  he  can  see  it,  and 
smell  it,  and  feel  it  Avith  his  nose.  Then  let  the 
skirt  loose,  and  rub  it  very  gently  against  his  neck 
the  way  the  hair  lies,  letting  him  hear  the  rattle 
of  the  skirts  as  he  feels  them  against  him — each 
time  getting  a  little  farther  backward,  and  finally 
slip  it  over  his  shoulders  on  his  back.  Shake  it  a 
little  with  your  hand,  and  in  less  than  five  minutes 
you  can  rattle  it  about  over  his  back  as  much  as 
you  please,  and  pull  it  off  and  throw  it  on  again, 
without  his  paying  much  attention  to  it. 

As  soon  as  you  have  accustomed  him  to  the  sad- 


TAAnXG   HORSES.  139 

die,  fasten  the  girth.  Be  careful  how  you  do  this. 
It  ofteu  frightens  the  colt  when  he  feels  the  girth 
binding  him,  and  making  the  saddle  fit  tight  on 
his  back.  You  should  bring  up  the  girth  very 
gently,  and  not  draw  it  too  tight  at  first,  just 
enough  to  hold  the  saddle  on.  Move  him  a  little, 
and  then  girth  it  as  tight  as  you  choose,  and  he 
will  not  mind  it. 

You  should  see  that  the  pad  of  your  saddle  is 
all  right  before  you  put  it  on,  and  that  there  is 
nothing  to  make  it  hurt  him,  or  feel  unpleasant  to  his 
back.  It  should  not  have  any  loose  straps  on  the 
back  part  of  it,  to  flap  about  and  scare  him.  After 
you  have  saddled  him  in  this  way,  take  a  switch  in 
your  right  hand  to  tap  him  up  with,  and  walk 
about  in  the  stable  a  few  times  with  your  right  arm 
over  your  saddle,  taking  hold  of  the  reins  on  each 
side  of  his  neck  with  your  right  and  left  hands, 
thus  marching  him  about  in  the  stable  until  you 
teach  him  the  use  of  the  bridle,  and  can  turn  him 
about  in  any  direction,  and  stop  him  by  a  gentle 
pull  of  the  rein.  Always  caress  him,  and  loose  the 
reins  a  little  every  time  you  stop  him. 

You  should  always  be  alone,  and  have  your  colt 
in  some  light  stable  or  shed  the  first  time  you  ride 
him ;  the  loft  should  be  high,  so  that  you  can  sit 
on  his  back  without  endangering  your  head.  You 
can  teach  him  more  in  two  hours'  time  in  a  stable 


140  TAMING   HORSES. 

of  this  kind  than  you  could  in  two  weeks  in  the 
common  way  of  breaking  colts,  out  in  an  open 
place.  Tf  you  follow  my  course  of  treatment,  you 
need  not  run  any  risk,  or  have  any  trouble  in  ri- 
ding the  worst  kind  of  horse.  You  take  him  a 
step  at  a  time,  until  you  get  up  a  mutual  confi- 
dence and  trust  between  yourself  and  horse.  First 
teach  him  to  lead  and  stand  hitched ;  next  ac- 
quaint him  with  the  saddle  and  the  use  of  the  bit ; 
and  then,  all  that  remains  is,  to  get  on  him  with- 
out scaring  him,  and  you  can  ride  him  as  well  as 
any  horse. 


HOW  TO  MOUNT  THE  COLT. 

First  gentle  him  v;ell  on  both  sides,  about  the 
saddle,  and  all  over,  until  he  will  stand  still  with- 
out holding,  and  is  not  afraid  to  see  you  anywhere 
about  him. 

As  soon  as  you  have  him  thus  gentled,  get  a 
small  block,  about  one  foot  or  eighteen  inches  in 
height,  and  set  it  down  by  the  side  of  him,  about 
where  you  want  to  stand  to  mount  him ;  step  up 
on  this,  raising  yourself  very  gently :  horses  notice 
every  change  of  position  very  closely,  and  if  you 
were  to  step  up  suddenly  on  the  block,  it  would  be 
very  apt  to  scare  him;  but,  by  raising  yourself 


TAMING   HORSES.  141 

gradually  on  it,  he  will  see  you,  without  being 
frightened,  in  a  position  very  nearly  the  same  as 
when  you  are  on  his  back. 

As  soon  as  he  will  bear  this  without  alarm,  un- 
tie the  stirrup-strap  next  to  you,  and  put  your  left 
foot  into  the  stirrup,  and  stand  square  over  it,  hold- 
ing your  knee  against  the  horse,  and  your  toe  out, 
so  as  to  touch  him  under  the  shoulder  with  the  toe 
of  your  boot.  Place  your  right  hand  on  the  front 
of  the  saddle,  and  on  the  opposite  side  of  you,  ta- 
king hold  of  a  portion  of  the  mane  and  the  reins, 
as  they  hang  loosely  over  his  neck,  with  your  left 
hand;  then  gradually  bear  your  weight  on  the 
stirrup,  and  on  your  right  hand,  until  the  horse 
feels  your  whole  weight  on  the  saddle :  repeat  this 
several  times,  each  time  raising  yourself  a  little 
higher  from  the  block,  until  he  will  allow  you  to 
raise  your  leg  over  his  croup  and  place  yourself  in 
the  saddle. 

There  are  three  great  advantages  in  having  a 
block  to  mount  from.  First,  a  sudden  change  of 
position  is  very  apt  to  frigliten  a  young  horse  who 
has  never  been  handled :  he  will  allow  you  to  walk 
up  to  him,  and  stand  by  his  side,  without  scaring 
at  you,  because  you  have  gentled  him  to  that  po- 
sition ;  but  if  you  get  down  on  your  hands  and 
knees,  and  crawl  towards  him,  he  will  be  very 
much  frightened ;  and  upon  the  same  pi'inciple  he 


142  TAMING    HORSES. 

would  be  frightened  at  your  new  position,  if  you 
had  the  power  to  hold  yourself  over  his  back  with- 
out touching  him.  Then  the  first  great  advantage 
of  the  block  is  to  gradually  gentle  him  to  that  new 
position  in  which  he  will  see  you  when  you  ride 
him. 

Secondly,  by  the  process  of  leaning  your  weight 
in  the  stirrups,  and  on  your  hand,  you  can  gradu- 
ally accustom  him  to  your  weight,  so  as  not  to 
frighten  him  by  having  him  feel  it  all  at  once. 
And,  in  the  third  place,  the  block  elevates  you  so 
that  you  will  not  have  to  make  a  spring  in  order 
to  get  on  the  horse's  back,  but  from  it  you  can 
gradually  raise  yourself  into  the  saddle.  When 
you  take  these  precautions,  there  is  no  horse  so 
wild  but  what  you  can  mount  him  without  making 
him  jump.  I  have  tried  it  on  the  worst  horses 
that  could  be  found,  and  have  never  failed  in  any 
case.  When  mounting,  your  horse  should  always 
stand  without  being  held.  A  horse  is  never  well 
broken  when  he  has  to  be  held  with  a  tight  rein 
when  mounting ;  and  a  colt  is  never  so  safe  to 
mount  as  when  you  see  that  assurance  of  confi- 
dence, and  absence  of  fear,  which  cause  him  to 
stand  without  holding. 


TAMING  HORSES.  143 


HOW  TO  RIDE  THE  COLT 

When  you  want  him  to  start,  do  not  touch  him 
on  the  side  with  ^our  heel,  or  do  anything  to 
frighten  him  and  make  him  jump.  But  speals:  to 
him  kindly,  and  if  he  does  not  start,  pull  him  a 
little  to  the  left  until  he  starts,  and  then  let  him 
walk  off  slowly  with  the  reins  loose.  Walk  him 
around  in  the  stable  a  few  times  until  he  gets  used 
to  the  bit,  and  you  can  turn  him  about  in  every 
direction,  and  stop  him  as  you  please.  It  would 
be  well  to  get  on  and  off  a  good  many  times,  until 
he  gets  perfectly  used  to  it  before  you  take  him 
out  of  the  stable. 

After  you  have  trained  him  in  this  way,  which 
should  not  take  you  more  than  one  or  two  hours, 
you  can  ride  him  anywhere  you  choose  without 
ever  having  him  jump  or  make  an  efibrt  to  throw 
you. 

When  you  first  take  him  out  of  the  stable,  be 
very  gentle  with  him,  as  he  will  feel  a  little  more 
at  liberty  to  jump  or  run,  and  be  a  little  easier 
frightened  than  he  was  while  in  the  stable.  But 
after  handling  him  so  much  in  the  stable,  he  will 


144  TAMING   HORSES. 

be  pretty  well  broken,  and  you  will  be  able  to 
manage  him  without  trouble  or  danger. 

When  you  first  mount  him  take  a  little  the 
shortest  hold  on  the  left  rein,  so  that  if  anything 
frightens  him  you  can  prevent  him  from  jumping 
by  pulling  his  head  around  to  you.  This  opera- 
tion of  pulling  a  horse's  head  round  against  his 
side  will  prevent  any  horse  from  jumping  ahead, 
rearing  up,'  or  running  away.  If  he  is  stubborn 
and  will  not  go,  you  can  make  him  move  by  pull- 
ing his  head  round  to  one  side,  when  whipping 
would  have  no  effect.  And  turning  him  round  a 
few  times  will  make  him  dizzy,  and  then  by  letting 
him  have  his  head  straight,  and  giving  him  a  lit- 
tle touch  with  the  whip,  he  will  go  along  without 
any  trouble. 

IS  ever  use  martingales  on  a  colt  when  you  first 
ride  him ;  every  movement  of  the  hand  should  go 
right  to  the  bit  in  the  direction  in  which  it  is  ap- 
plied to  the  reins,  without  a  martingale  to  change 
the  direction  of  the  force  applied.  You  can  guide 
the  colt  much  better  without  it,  and  teach  him  the 
use  of  the  bit  in  much  less  time.  Besides,  martin- 
gales would  prevent  you  from  pulling  his  head 
round  if  he  should  try  to  jump. 

After  your  colt  has  been  ridden  until  he  is  gen- 
tle and  well  accustomed  to  the  bit,  you  may  find 
it  an  advantage  if  he  carries  his  head  too  high,  or 
his  nose  too  far  out,  to  put  martingales  on  him. 


TAMING   HORSES.  145 

You  should  be  careful  not  to  ride  your  colt  so  far 
at  first  as  to  heat,  worry,  or  tire  him.  Gat  off  as 
soon  as  you  see  he  is  a  little  fatigued;  gentle  him 
and  let  him  rest;  this  will  make  him  kind  to  you 
and  prevent  him  from  getting  stubborn  or  mad. 


THE  PROPER  WAY  TO  BIT  A  COLT. 

Farmers  often  put  bitting  harnesss  on  a  colt  the 
first  thing  they  do  to  him,  buckling  up  the  bitting 
as  tight  as  they  can  draw  it,  to  make  him  carry  his 
head  high,  and  then  turn  him  out  in  a  field  to  run 
a  half-day  at  a  time.  This  is  one  of  the  worst 
punishments  that  they  could  inflict  on  the  colt, 
and  very  injurious  to  a  young  horse  that  has  been 
used  to  running  in  pasture  with  his  head  down.  I 
have  seen  colts  so  injured  in  this  way  that  they 
never  got  over  it. 

A  horse  should  be  well  accustomed  to  the  bit 
before  you  put  on  the  bitting  harness,  and  wlien 
you  first  bit  him  you  should  only  rein  his  head  up 
to  that  point  where  he  naturally  holds  it,  let  that 
be  high  or  low;  he  will  soon  learn  that  he  cannot 
lower  his  head,  and  that  raising  it  a  little  vi'ill 
loosen  the  bit  in  his  mouth.  This  will  give  him 
the  idea  of  raising  his  head  to  loosen  the  bit,  and 
then  you  can  draw  the  bitting  a  little  tighter  every 


146  TAMING  HORSES. 

time  you  put  it  on,  and  he  will  still  raise  his  head 
to  loosen  it;  by  this  means  you  Avill  gradually  get 
his  head  and  neck  in  the  position  you  want  him  to 
cany  it,  and  give  him  a  nice  and  graceful  carriage 
without  hurting  him,  making  him  mad,  or  causing 
his  mouth  to  get  sore. 

If  you  put  the  bitting  on  very  tight  the  first 
time,  he  cannot  raise  his  head  enough  to  loosen 
it,  but  will  bear  on  it  all  the  time,  and  paw,  sweat, 
and  throw  himself.  Many  horses  have  been  killed 
by  falling  backward  with  the  bitting  on;  their 
heads  being  drawn  up  strike  the  ground  with  the 
whole  weight  of  the  body.  Horses  that  have  their 
heads  drawn  up  tightly  should  not  have  the  bitting 
on  more  than  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  at  a  time. 


HOW   TO  DRIVE  A   HORSE   THAT  IS    VERY 
wriLD  AND    HAS  ANY  VICIOUS  HABITS. 

Take  up  one  fore  foot  and  bend  his  knee  till  his 
hoof  is  bottom  upwards,  and  nearly  touching  his 
body;  then  slip  a  loop  over  his  knee,  and  up  until 
it  comes  above  the  pastern  joint,  to  keep  it  up, 
being  careful  to  draw  the  loop  together  between 
the  hoof  and  pastern  joint  with  a  second  strap  of 
some  kind  to  prevent  the  loop  from  slipping  down 
and  coming  off.     This  will  leave  the  horse  stand- 


TAMING  HOKSES.  147 

ing  on  three  legs ;  you  can  now  handle  him  as  you 
wish,  for  it  is  utterly  impossible  for  him  to  kick  in 
this  position.  There  is  something  in  this  operation 
of  taking  uj)  one  foot  that  conquers  a  horse  quicker 
and  better  than  anything  else  you  can  do  to  him. 
There  is  no  process  in  the  world  equal  to  it  to 
break  a  kicking  horse,  for  several  reasons.  First, 
there  is  a  principle  of  this  kind  in  the  nature  of 
the  horse:  that  by  conquering  one  member  you 
conquer  to  a  great  extent  the  whole  horse. 

You  have  perhaps  seen  men  operate  upon  this 
principle,  by  sewing  a  horse's  ears  together  to  pre- 
vent him  from  kicking.  I  once  saw  a  plan  given 
in  a  newsi^aper  to  make  a  bad  horse  stand  to  be 
shod,  which  was  to  fasten  down  one  ear.  There 
were  no  reasons  given  v/hy  you  should  do  so  ;  but 
I  tried  it  several  times,  and  thought  that  it  had  a 
good  eifect — though  I  would  not  recommend  its  use ; 
especially  stitching  his  ears  together.  The  only 
benefit  arising  from  this  process  is,  that  by  disar- 
ranging his  ears  we  draw  his  attention  to  them, 
and  he  is  not  so  apt  to  resist  the  shoeing.  By  ty- 
ing up  one  foot  we  operate  on  the  same  principle 
to  a  much  better  efiect.  When  you  first  fasten  up 
a  horse's  foot  he  will  sometimes  get  very  mad,  and 
strike  with  his  knee,  and  try  every  possible  way  to 
get  it  down ;  but  he  cannot  do  that,  and  will  soon 
give  up. 


148  TAMING   HORSES. 

This  will  conquer  him  better  than  anything  you 
could  do,  and  without  any  possible  danger  of  hurt- 
ing himself  or  you  either,  for  you  can  tie  up  his 
foot  and  sit  down  and  look  at  him  until  he  gives 
up.  When  you  find  that  he  is  conquered,  go  to 
him,  let  down  his  foot,  rub  his  leg  with  your  hand, 
caress  him,  and  let  him  rest  a  little ;  then  put  it 
up  again.  Repeat  this  a  few  times,  always  putting 
up  the  same  foot,  and  he  will  soon  learn  to  travel 
on  three  legs  so  that  you  can  drive  him  some  dis- 
tance. As  soon  as  he  gets  a  little  used  to  this  way 
of  travelling,  put  on  your  harness,  and  hitch  him 
to  a  sulky.  If  he  is  the  worst  kicking  horse  that 
ever  raised  a  foot,  you  need  not  be  fearful  of  his 
doing  any  damage  while  he  has  one  foot  up,  for  he 
cannot  kick,  neither  can  he  run  fast  enough  to  do 
any  harm.  And  if  he  is  the  wildest  horse  that 
ever  had  harness  on,  and  has  run  away  every  time 
he  has  been  hitched,  you  can  now  hitch  him  in  a 
sulky,  and  drive  him  as  you  please.  If  he  wants 
to  run,  you  can  let  him  have  the  lines,  and  the 
whip  too,  with  perfect  safety,  for  he  can  go  but  a 
slow  gait  on  three  legs,  and  will  soon  be  tired,  and 
willing  to  stop;  only  hold  him  enough  to  guide 
him  in  the  right  direction,  and  he  will  soon  be 
tired  and  willing  to  stop  at  the  word.  Thus  you 
will  effectually  cure  him  at  once  of  any  further  no- 
tion of  running  off.     Kicking  horses  have  always 


TAMING   HORSES.  149 

been  the  dread  of  everybody  ;  you  always  hear 
men  say,  when  they  speak  about  a  bad  horse,  "  I 
don't  care  what  he  does,  so  he  don't  kick."  This 
new  method  is  an  effectual  cure  for  this  worst  of 
all  habits.  There  are  plenty  of  w^ays  by  which 
you  can  hitch  a  kicking  horse,  and  force  him  to 
go,  though  he  kicks  all  the  time ;  but  this  don't 
have  any  good  effect  towards  breaking  him,  for  we 
know  that  horses  kick  because  they  are  afraid  of 
what  is  behind  them,  and  when  they  kick  against 
it  and  it  hurts  them  they  will  only  kick  the  harder; 
and  tliis  will  hurt  them  still  more  and  make  them 
remember  the  scrape  much  longer,  and  make  it 
still  more  difficult  to  persuade  them  to  have  any 
confidence  in  anything  dragging  behind  them  ever 
after. 

But  by  this  new  method  you  can  hitch  them  to 
a  rattling  sulky,  plough,  wagon,  or  anything  else 
in  its  worst  shape.  They  may  be  frightened  at 
first,  but  cannot  kick  or  do  anything  to  hurt  them- 
selves, and  will  soon  find  that  you  do  not  intend  to 
hurt  them,  and  then  they  will  not  care  anything 
more  about  it.  You  can  then  let  down  the  leg  and 
drive  along  gently  without  any  further  trouble. 
By  this  new  process  a  bad  kicking  horse  can  be 
learned  to  go  gently  in  harness  in  a  few  hours* 
time. 

13^ 


150  TAMING   HORSES. 


ON  BALKING. 

Horses  know  nothing  about  balking,  only  as 
they  are  brought  into  it  by  improper  management, 
and  when  a  horse  balks  in  harness  it  is  generally 
from  some  mismanagement,  excitement,  confusion, 
or  from  not  knowing  how  to  pull,  but  seldom  from 
any  unwillingness  to  perform  all  that  he  under- 
stands. High-spirited,  free-going  horses  are  the 
most  subject  to  balking,  and  only  so  because  dri- 
vers do  not  properly  understand  how  to  manage 
this  kind.  A  free  horse  in  a  team  may  be  so  anx- 
ious to  go,  that  when  he  hears  the  word  he  will 
start  with  a  jump,  which  will  not  move  the  load, 
but  give  him  such  a  severe  jerk  on  the  shoulders 
that  he  will  fly  back  and  stop  the  other  horse ;  the 
teamster  will  continue  his  driving  without  any  ces- 
sation, and  by  the  time  he  has  the  slow  horse 
started  again  he  will  find  that  the  free  horse  has 
made  another  jump,  and  again  flown  back  ;  and 
now  he  has  them  both  badly  balked,  and  so  con- 
fused that  neither  of  them  knows  what  is  the  mat- 
ter, or  how  to  start  the  load.  Next  will  come  the 
slashing  and  cracking  of  the  whip,  and  hallooing 


TAMING   HORSES.  151 

of  the  driver,  till  something  is  broken  or  h^  is 
through  with  his  course  of  treatment.  But  what 
a  mistake  the  driver  commits  by  whipping  his 
horse  for  this  act!  Reason  and  common  sense 
should  teach  him  that  the  horse  is  Avilling  and  anx- 
ious to  go,  but  did  not  know  how  to  start  the  load. 
And  should  he  whip  him  for  that?  If  so,  he 
should  whip  him  again  for  not  knowing  how  to 
talk.  A  man  that  wants  t'>  act  with  any  ration- 
ality or  reason  should  not  Jly  into  a  passion,  but 
should  always  think  before  he  strikes.  It  takes  a 
steady  pressure  against  the  collar  to  move  a  load, 
and  you  cannot  expect  him  to  act  with  a  steady, 
determined  purpose  while  you  are  wdiipping  him. 
There  is  hardly  one  balking  horse  in  five  hundred 
that  will  pull  true  from  w^iipping ;  it  is  only  add- 
ing fuel  to  fire,  and  will  make  him  more  liable  to 
balk  another  time.  You  always  see  horses  that 
have  been  balked  a  few  times,  turn  their  heads 
and  look  back,  as  soon  as  they  are  a  little  frustra- 
ted. This  is  because  they  have  been  whipped  and 
are  afraid  of  what  is  behind  them.  This  is  an  in- 
variable rule  with  balked  horses,  just  as  much  as 
it  is  for  them  to  look  around  at  their  sides  when 
they  have  the  bots ;  in  either  case  they  are  deserv- 
ing of  the  same  sympathy  and  the  same  kind,  ra- 
tional treatment. 

When  your  horse  balks  or  is  a  little  excited,  if  he 


152  TAMING   HORSES. 

wants  to  start  quickly,  or  looks  around  and  doesn't 
want  to  go — there  is  something  wrong,  and  he 
needs  kind  treatment  immediately.  Caress  him 
kindly,  and  if  he  doesn't  understand  at  once  what 
you  want  him  to  do,  he  will  not  be  so  much  exci- 
ted as  to  jump  and  break  things,  and  do  everything 
wrong  through  fear.  As  long  as  you  are  calm, 
and  keep  down  the  excitement  of  the  horse,  there 
are  ten  chances  to  have  him  understand  you,  where 
there  would  not  be  one  under  harsh  treatment,  and 
then  the  little  flare  up  would  not  carry  with  it  any 
unfavorable  recollections,  and  he  would  soon  for- 
get all  about  it,  and  learn  to  pull  true.  Almost 
every  wrong  act  the  horse  commits  is  from  mis- 
management, fear,  or  excitement ;  one  harsh  word 
will  so  excite  a  nervous  horse  as  to  increase  his 
pulse  ten  beats  in  a  minute. 

When  we  remember  that  we  are  dealing  with 
dumb  brutes,  and  reflect  how  difficult  it  must  be 
for  them  to  understand  our  motions,  signs,  and 
language,  we  should  never  get  out  of  patience  with 
them  because  they  don't  understand  us,  or  wonder 
at  their  doing  things  wrong.  With  all  our  intel- 
lect, if  we  were  placed  in  the  horse's  situation,  it 
would  be  difficult  for  ns  to  understand  the  driving 
of  some  foreigner,  of  foreign  ways  and  foreign  lan- 
guage. We  should  always  recollect  that  our  ways 
and  language  are  just  as  foreign  and  unknown  to 


TAMING   HORSES.  153 

the  horse  as  any  language  in  the  world  is  to  us, 
and  should  try  to  practise  what  we  could  under- 
stand were  we  the  horse,  endeavoring  by  some 
simple  means  to  work  on  his  understanding  rather 
than  on  the  different  parts  of  his  body.  All  balked 
horses  can  be  started  true  and  steady  in  a  few  mi- 
nutes' time;  they  are  all  willing  to  pull  as  soon  as 
they  know  how,  and  I  never  yet  found  a  balked 
horse  that  I  could  not  teach  to  start  his  load  in 
fifteen,  and  often  less  than  three,  minutes'  time. 

Almost  any  team,  when  first  balked,  will  start 
kindly  if  you  let  them  stand  five  or  ten  minutes  as 
though  there  was  nothing  wrong,  and  then  speak 
to  them  with  a  steady  voice,  and  turn  them  a  little 
to  the  right  or  left,  so  as  to  get  them  both  in  mo- 
tion before  they  feel  the  pinch  of  the  load.  But 
if  you  v/ant  to  start  a  team  that  you  are  not  dri- 
ing  yourself,  that  has  been  balked,  fooled  and 
whipped  for  some  time,  go  to  them  and  hang  the 
lines  on  their  hames,  or  fasten  them  to  the  wagon, 
so  that  they  will  be  perfectly  loose;  make  the  driv- 
ver  and  spectators  (if  there  are  any)  stand  off  some 
distance  to  one  side,  so  as  not  to  attract  the  atten- 
tion of  the  horse ;  unloose  their  check-reins,  so  that 
they  can  get  their  heads  down  if  they  choose ;  let 
them  stand  a  few  minutes  in  this  condition  until 
you  can  see  that  they  are  a  little  composed.  While 
they  are  standing  you  should  be  about  their  heads, 


154  TAMING   HORSES. 

gentling  them;  it  will  make  them  a  little  more 
kind,  and  the  spectators  will  think  that  you  are 
doing  something  that  they  do  not  understand,  and 
will  not  learn  the  secret.  When  you  have  them 
ready  to  start,  stand  before  them,  and  as  you  sel- 
dom have  but  one  balky  horse  in  a  team,  get  as 
near  in  front  of  him  as  you  can,  and  if  he  is  too 
fast  for  the  other  horse,  let  his  nose  come  against 
your  breast;  this  will  keep  him  steady,  for  he  will 
go  slow  rather  than  run  on  you ;  turn  them  gently 
to  the  right,  without  letting  them  pull  on  the  tra- 
ces as  far  as  the  tongue  will  let  them  go  ;  stop  them 
with  a  kind  word,  gentle  them  a  little,  and  then 
turn  them  back  to  the  left,  by  the  same  process. 
You  will  have  them  under  your  control  by  this 
time,  and  as  you  turn  them  again  to  the  right, 
steady  them  in  the  collar,  and  you  can  take  them 
where  you  please. 

There  is  a  quicker  process  that  will  generally  start 
a  balky  horse,  but  not  so  sure.  Stand  him  a  little 
ahead,  so  that  his  shoulders  will  be  against  the 
collar,  and  then  take  up  one  of  his  forefeet  in  your 
hand,  and  let  the  driver  start  them,  and  when  the 
weight  comes  against  his  shoulders,  he  will  try  to 
step ;  then  let  him  have  his  foot,  and  he  will  go 
right  along.  If  you  want  to  break  a  horse  from 
])alking  that  has  long  been  in  that  habit,  you  ought 
to  set  apart  a  half-day  for  that  purpose.     Put  him 


TAMING   HORSES.  155 

by  the  side  of  some  steady  horse ;  have  check-lines 
on  them ;  tie  up  all  the  traces  and  straps,  so  that 
there  will  be  nothing  to  excite  them ;  do  not  rein 
them  up,  but  let  them  have  their  heads  loose. 
Walk  them  about  together  for  some  time  as  slowly 
and  lazily  as  possible;  stop  often,  and  go  up  to 
your  balky  horse  and  gentle  him.  Do  not  take 
any  whip  about  him,  or  do  anything  to  excite  him, 
but  keep  him  just  as  quiet  as  you  can.  He  will 
soon  learn  to  start  off  at  the  word,  and  stop  when- 
ever you  tell  him. 

As  soon  as  he  performs  rightly,  hitch  him  in  an 
empty  wagon;  have  it  stand  in  a  favorable  po- 
sition for  starting.  It  would  be  well  to  shorten  the 
stay-chain  behind  the  steady  horse,  so  that  if  it  is 
necessary,  he  can  take  the  weight  of  the  wagon 
the  first  time  you  start  them.  Do  not  drive  but  a 
few  rods  at  first ;  watch  your  balky  horse  closely, 
and  if  you  see  that  he  is  getting  excited,  stop  him 
before  he  stops  of  his  own  accord,  caress  him  a  lit- 
tle, and  start  again.  As  soon  as  they  go  well, 
drive  them  over  a  small  hill  a  few  times,  and  then 
over  a  larger  one,  occasionally  adding  a  little  load. 

This  process  will  make  any  horse  true  to  pull. 


156  TAMING  HORSES. 


TO  BREAK  A  HORSE  TO  HARNESS. 

Take  him  in  a  light  stable,  as  you  did  to  ride 
him ;  take  the  harness  and  go  through  the  same 
process  that  you  did  with  the  saddle,  until  you  get 
him  familiar  with  it,  so  that  you  can  put  it  on  him, 
and  rattle  it  about  without  his  caring  for  it.  As 
soon  as  he  will  bear  this^  put  on  the  lines,  caress 
him  as  you  draw  them  over  him,  and  drive  him 
about  in  the  stable  till  he  will  bear  them  over  his 
hips.  The  lines  are  a  great  aggravation  to  some 
colts,  and  often  frighten  them  as  much  as  if  you 
were  to  raise  a  whip  over  them.  As  soon  as  he  is 
familiar  with  the  harness  and  lines,  take  him  out 
and  put  him  by  the  side  of  a  gentle  horse,  and  go 
through  the  same  process  that  you  did  with  the 
balking  horse.  Always  use  a  bridle  without  blinds 
when  you  are  breaking  a  horse  to  harness. 


HOW  TO  HITCH  A  HORSE  IN  A  SULKY. 

Lead  him  to  and  around  it ;  let  him  look  at  it, 
touch  it  with  his  nose,  and  stand  by  it  till  he  does 


TAMING   HORSES.  157 

not  care  for  it ;  then  pull  the  shafts  a  little  to  the 
left,  and  stand  your  horse  in  front  of  the  off-wheel. 
Let  some  one  stand  on  the  right  side  of  tlie  horse, 
and  hold  him  by  the  bit,  while  you  stand  on  the 
left  side,  facing  the  sulky.  This  will  keep  him 
straight.  Run  your  left  hand  back,  and  let  it  rest 
on  his  hip,  and  lay  hold  of  the  shafts  with  your 
right,  bringing  them  up  very  gently  to  the  left 
hand,  which  still  remains  stationary.  Do  not  let 
anything  but  your  arm  touch  his  back,  and  as  soon 
as  you  have  the  shafts  square  over  him,  let  the 
person  on  the  opposite  side  take  hold  of  one  of 
them,  and  lower  them  very  gently  to  the  shaft- 
bearers.  Be  very  slow  and  deliberate  about  hitch- 
ing; the  longer  time  you  take  the  better,  as  a 
general  thing.  When  you  have  the  shafts  placed, 
shake  them  slightly,  so  that  he  will  feel  them 
aa;ain3t  each  side.  ~As  soon  as  he  will  bear  them 
without  scaring,  fasten  your  braces,  &c.,  and  start 
him  along  very  slowly.  Let  one  man  lead  the 
horse,  to  keep  him  gentle,  while  the  other  gradu- 
ally works  back  wdth  the  lines  till  lie  can  get  be- 
hind and  drive  him.  After  you  have  driven  him 
in  this  way  a  short  distance,  you  can  get  into  the 
sulky,  and  all  will  go  right.  It  is  very  important 
to  have  your  horse  go  gently  when  you  first  hitch 
him.  After  you  have  walked  him  awhile,  there  is 
not  half  so  much  dant^-er  of  his  scarinur.     Men  do 

o  o 

14 


158  TAMING   HORSES. 

very  wrong  to  jump  up  behind  a  horse  to  drive 
him  as  soon  as  they  have  him  hitched.  There  are 
too  many  things  for  him  to  comprehend  all  at  once. 
The  shafts,  the  lines,  the  harness,  and  the  rattling 
of  the  sulky,  all  tend  to  scare  him,  and  he  must  be 
made  familiar  with  them  by  degrees.  If  your 
horse  is  very  wild,  I  would  advise  you  to  put  up 
one  foot  the  first  time  you  drive  him. 


HOW  TO  MAKE  A  HORSE  LIE  DOWN. 

Everything  that  we  want  to  teach  the  horse 
must  be  commenced  in  some  way  to  give  him  au 
idea  of  what  you  want  him  to  do,  and  then  be  re- 
peated till  he  learns  it  perfectly.  To  make  a  horse 
lie  down,  bend  his  left  fore  leg  and  slip  a  loop  over 
it,  so  that  he  cannot  get  it  down.  Then  put  a  sur- 
cingle around  his  body,  and  fasten  one  end  of  a 
long  strap  around  the  other  fore  leg,  just  above  the 
hoof.  Place  the  other  end  under  the  surcingle,  so 
as  to  keep  the  strap  in  the  right  direction ;  take  a 
short  hold  of  it  with  your  right  hand ;  stand  on 
the  left  side  of  the  horse,  grasp  the  bit  in  your  left 
hand,  pull  steadily  on  the  strap  with  your  right; 
bear  against  his  shoulder  till  you  cause  him  to 
move.  As  soon  as  he  lifts  his  weight,  your  pulling 
will  raise  the  other  foot,  and  he  will  have  to  come 


TAMING  HORSES.  159 

on  his  knees.  Keep  the  strap  tight  in  your  hand, 
so  that  he  cannot  straighten  his  leg  if  he  rises  up. 
Hold  him  in  this  position,  and  turn  his  head  to- 
wards you ;  bear  against  his  side  with  your  shoul- 
der, not  hard,  but  with  a  steady,  equal  pressure, 
and  in  about  ten  minutes  he  will  lie  down.  As 
soon  as  he  lies  down,  he  will  be  completely  con- 
quered, and  you  can  handle  him  as  you  please. 
Take  ofi*  the  straps,  and  straighten  out  his  legs; 
rub  him  lightly  about  the  face  and  neck  with  your 
hand  the  way  the  hair  lies ;  handle  all  his  legs,  and 
after  he  has  lain  ten  or  twenty  minutes,  let  him 
get  up  again.  After  resting  him  a  short  time 
make  him  lie  down  as  before.  Repeat  the  opera- 
tion three  or  four  times,  which  will  be  sufficient  for 
one  lesson.  Give  him  two  lessons  a  day,  and  when 
you  have  given  him  four  lessons,  he  will  lie  down 
by  taking  hold  of  one  foot.  As  soon  as  he  is  well 
broken  to  lie  down  in  this  way,  tap  him  on  the  op- 
posite leg  with  a  stick  when  you  take  hold  of  his 
foot,  and  in  a  few  days  he  will  lie  down  from  the 
mere  motion  of  the  stick. 


HOW  TO  MAKE  A  HORSE  FOLLOW  YOU. 

Turn  him  into  a  large  stable  or  shed,  where 
there  is  no  chance  to  get  out,  with  a  halter  or  bri- 


160  TAMING   HORSES. 

die  on.  Go  to  him  and  gentle  him  a  little,  take 
hold  of  his  halter  and  turn  him  towards  yoa,  at 
the  same  time  touching  him  lightly  over  the  hips 
with  a  long  whip.  Lead  him  the  length  of  the 
stable,  rubbing  him  on  the  neck,  saying  in  a  steady 
tone  of  voice  as  you  lead  him,  "Come  along  boy?" 
or  use  his  name  instead  of  "boy"  if  you  choose. 
Every  time  you  turn  touch  him  slightly  with  the 
whip,  to  make  him  step  up  close  to  you,  and  then 
caress  him  with  your  hand.  He  will  soon  learn  to 
hurry  up  to  escape  the  whip  and  be  caressed,  and 
you  can  make  him  follow  you  around  without  ta- 
king hold  of  the  halter.  If  he  should  stop  and 
turn  from  you,  give  him  a  few  sharp  cuts  about^ 
the  hind  legs,  and  he  will  soon  turn  his  head  to- 
wards you,  when  you  must  always  caress  him.  A 
few  lessons  of  this  kind  will  make  him  run  after 
you,  when  he  sees  the  motion  of  the  whip — in 
twenty  or  thirty  minutes  he  will  follow  you  about 
the  stable.  After  you  have  given  him  two  or  three 
lessons  in  the  stable,  take  him  out  into  a  small 
field  and  train  him ;  and  from  thence  you  can 
take  him  into  the  road  and  make  him  follow  you 
anywhere,  and  run  after  you. 


TAMING   HORSEa  161 


HOW   TO    MAKE   A   HORSE    STAND   WITH- 
OUT HOLDING. 

After  you  have  him  well  broken  to  follow  you, 
place  him  in  the  centre  of  the  stable — begin  at  his 
head  to  caress  him,  gradually  working  backwards. 
If  he  moves,  give  him  a  cut  with  the  whip,  and 
put  him  back  to  the  same  spot  from  which  he  start- 
ed. If  he  stands,  caress  him  as  before,  and  con- 
tinue gentling  him  in  this  way  until  you  can  get 
round  him  without  making  him  move.  Keep 
walking  around  him,  increasing  your  pace,  and 
only  touch  him  occasionally.  Enlarge  your  circle 
as  you  walk  around,  and  if  he  then  moves,  give 
him  another  cut  with  the  whip,  and  put  him  back 
to  his  place.  If  he  stands,  go  to  him  frequently 
and  caress  him,  and  then  walk  around  him  again. 
Do  not  keep  him  in  one  position  too  loug  at  a  time, 
but  make  him  come  to  you  occasionally,  and  fol- 
low you  around  the  stable.  Then  make  him  stand 
in  another  place,  and  proceed  as  before.  You 
should  not  train  }our  horse  more  than  half  an 
hour  at  a  time. 

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